


After the Drought

by merlinus_ambrosius



Category: Narcos (TV)
Genre: A little bit of the Murphy family because I can't help it, Alcohol, Christmas Fluff, Chucho Is a Girl Grandpa, Cows and horses and puppies and kittens, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Graduation, Healing, Intergenerational friendship, It's not my fault: it's the '90s, Smoking, Wedding Fluff, engagement fluff, mentions of physical abuse, post-season 3, small-town gossip
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 64,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25933840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlinus_ambrosius/pseuds/merlinus_ambrosius
Summary: Chucho knows that Colombia changed his son, but he doesn't know how to connect with him again. But he finds that he might know a thing or two about helping hurting people after all...
Relationships: Chucho Pena & Javi Pena, Chucho Pena & OFC, Javi Pena/OFC
Comments: 108
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place after Javi comes back to the ranch near Laredo, post-season 3, mid-1990s.

Chucho Peña sat down at the corner table in the café where he’d been coming every Sunday after mass for almost twenty years. Ginny had already turned the game on for them on the big color TV on the end of the bar, with the sound at half volume, but he was the first one at the table today. He wondered what was holding up the other three—he’d been the only one of them at church earlier.

Carlo usually complained that the up-and-down was too hard on his knees. Tony still showed up occasionally, but Ed had stopped giving explanations for his absence years ago. There had once been a fifth member of their table, but Manny’s wife had had a heart attack and then a debilitating stroke, and he seldom left the house anymore. If Chucho remembered, he’d take them over a couple of takeout boxes before he went home today. The church ladies usually had them covered for meals though. They’d done the same for Chucho on Linda’s chemo days, but Javi had called every other day from Colombia to check on her, and that had done her more good than any number of tin foil-covered casseroles ever could.

“Hola, Chucho,” Tony said, sliding into the booth beside him and tossing his hat onto the shelf behind them. Tony was his nearest neighbor and he’d known Tony his whole life—Tony was born the day Chucho got his driver’s license, officially—and Chucho had never seen him wear his hat indoors. “Did I miss kickoff?”

“Yeah,” Chucho said, “but I wouldn’t worry about it. This team hasn’t amounted to a hill of beans since Staubach retired.”

Tony grinned and opened his mouth—they’d argued about this since 1980—but just then Ed and Carlo showed up, and in the bustle of sitting and greeting and bemoaning their arthritis, the moment was lost.

“Where’s your partner, Chucho?” Carlo asked, looking around like he expected Javi to be hiding under the table.

“I haven’t seen him yet today. I came straight from church.” He wasn’t even sure Javi had come home last night. The door of his room was closed this morning, but Chucho couldn’t remember if it had been closed last evening when he’d gone to bed.

“How’s it working out? I bet he’s a big help fixing fences, if nothing else,” Tony said. Chucho appreciated that he hadn’t mentioned how Chucho had taken a fall trying to load new posts into his truck. Only Tony knew about that, since he’d been the one to find Chucho by the barn.

“Well, he’s a lot younger than I am,” Chucho said. No need to go into Javi’s silences and inability to concentrate on the job at hand. No need to bring up the copious number of empty whisky bottles Chucho had found lying around, in addition to the ones filling up the trash barrel each week.

“Marge is dying for an excuse to bring her niece Michelle over to meet the hero.” Ed grinned. “I’ve stalled her a couple of times but she won’t be put off for long.”

“He needs to meet a nice girl, settle down,” Carlo said.

“I’m telling you, nice girls don’t grow on trees,” Tony put in. “It’s not like it was. Used to be, you found a girl at church or school, you went steady, you got married after you got out of school and had some money. Easy as that.” He shook his head. “Girls nowadays, they don’t want to settle down. They want careers. My Nicole, she signed that big contract with the hospital right out of college. I said, ‘Sweetie, I know you always wanted to be a nurse, but how you gonna work full time and have a family too?’ She just laughed and said, ‘Mom did it, Dad, and I can too if I want to someday. But the difference is, I’m going to get paid for it.’”

“Times change,” said Chucho mildly.

He should have kept his mouth shut, because Ed started in again. “Javi must be what, pushing forty?” He shook his head. “Women his age are all taken. He should never have broken his engagement.”

An awkward silence fell.

Tony finally spoke up. “It was dangerous in Colombia. He must have been thinking he didn’t want to leave a widow and children behind if something went bad.”

Chucho gave him a faint smile. Tony knew all Chucho’s gray hairs came from worrying over that boy. Fortunately at that moment Ginny came to take their orders. She knew Chucho’s order by heart, and wrote it down with a wink before he even opened his mouth. She flirted harmlessly with Carlo, waited patiently while Ed changed his mind three times, and made sure Tony really wanted his steak medium well since he usually liked it medium rare.

Chucho found himself wondering if Javi would be interested in her. She was a sweet girl who also happened to be tough as nails. She’d gotten pregnant in high school and married the father, and then, when he left her a few years later, proceeded to raise her little girl by herself while working at the café and going to school too. She’d told Chucho if she could manage an extra class this fall, she could graduate from college in December, after six and a half years. He wouldn’t have cared if it took ten—he couldn’t have been prouder if she were his own daughter.

But Javi as a father? Especially to a girl on the doorstep of her teens? Chucho wasn’t sure how that would work out. And he didn’t think Javi was ready for any kind of serious relationship right now anyway. Not with Ginny, not with Marge’s niece, not with anyone. Javi was hurting, and Chucho didn’t know how to help.

Not for the first time, he wished Linda were still alive. She and Javi were cut from the same cloth, and he was sure she would have known how to reach their son. Chucho was beginning to doubt he could.

  


  


  


Chucho remembered to take the food to Manny, but only because Ginny had it ready for him when he brought his check up to the register to pay. “It’s on the house, Don Chucho,” she said with a wink. But since Chucho knew that meant out of her pocket, he went back to the table and left a twenty for her tip.

He checked that the horses had water when he got home, then went into the house, ready to watch the second half of the game in his easy chair in the living room and probably take a snooze. To his surprise, Javi was stretched out on the couch watching the game. Javi had never paid any attention to football.

“New hobby?” Chucho asked, jerking his head toward the TV.

“Just relaxing,” Javi said.

Chucho nodded. “Get something to eat?”

Javi shrugged. “I’m good for now.”

There didn’t seem to be anything else to say, so Chucho sat in his chair and put his feet up. He used to balk at taking a day “off” as Linda insisted—besides the necessary feeding of the animals, there was always something that needed to be done on the ranch—but nowadays he needed Sundays more and more.

“How was church, Pop?” Javi asked, his eyes closed.

“Same as always. There’s comfort in that.”

Javi grunted. “So what are we working on tomorrow?”

“I’m going to try some winter wheat in the south field by the creek. Maybe plow and plant tomorrow.”

“Do you need help with that?”

Chucho looked over at his son. “Done it myself for fifty years, but I wouldn’t say no to some help.”

Javi pulled his aviator sunglasses out of his shirt pocket, squinted at them as if considering wearing them, then put them back. “They want me to come to the Houston office this week.”

Chucho didn’t answer and Javi didn’t look at him. Finally he asked, “Mexico?”

“I don’t know,” Javi said. “If so, I won’t go.”

“What if it’s stateside? Texas?”

Javi shrugged. “It seems like you need me here, Dad.”

“Javier. It’s good to have you here. But you do what you need to do. I’ll be fine.”

His son said nothing, just sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“You should at least go and see what they have to say, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Javi said.

Chucho leaned his head back against the headrest of the chair and looked at the TV. He didn’t know whether he fell asleep or not, but he didn’t see much of the game.

  


  


  


Chucho stood on the porch the next morning and watched the dust Javi’s Jeep kicked up as he tore down the lane toward the main road that would take him to Houston. Suddenly his throat felt tight, and it wasn’t from the dust.

It didn’t seem there was much left of the little boy with the burning sense of justice, bright-eyed and earnest and sincere. Well, the sense of justice was still there. But Javi was jaded, so jaded.

Chucho remembered the day Linda had sat him down and took his hand. _“Querido,”_ she’d said, _“I hope you are beginning to understand. This ranch won’t hold that boy. He won’t be satisfied until he’s made big wrongs into rights. And it’s time we start learning to let him go, and thinking about what we’ll do with this place when we get old.”_ He shook his head to clear the moisture in his eyes. Javi had made a big wrong into a right, and Chucho was so proud of him. Linda hadn’t lived to see Escobar and the Medellín cartel taken down, but he knew she’d be proud too. But the cost, the cost to his boy had been so high.

He swallowed hard, and turned back to the house. The sun was up now. Time to get his hat and get to work.

  


  


  



	2. Chapter 2

When he came back into the house for the night, the light on the answering machine was blinking. Chucho frowned at it, then turned on the light in the kitchen, washed up, and cooked himself dinner. He watched it blink until he finished, then he heaved himself to his feet to walk over to it and push the button. 

This contraption was another thing Linda had insisted on. Not only did they need a cordless phone, she said, but they needed an answering machine. What if Javi called, she asked, and couldn’t get ahold of them? Chucho had grumbled about it. The first machine had been so complicated he never touched it, but this one was not so bad. Only a few buttons to remember how to use.

_“Hey, Pop,”_ came Javi’s voice from the machine. _“It’s not about Mexico. I’m staying over tonight since we have another meeting tomorrow. If I have to stay again, I’ll call you. OK.”_

_OK._ That was how Javi ended all his messages. No “goodbye,” no “I love you.” Just _OK._ He remembered how in her last days Linda had played a message from him over and over, just to hear his voice before he finally came home. _“OK,”_ Javi’s voice always ended. But Linda had known everything Javi had meant wrapped up in that word.

A second message came on. _“Hi, Don Chucho. It’s Ginny. I hope you’re doing okay. I was wondering if you could do me a favor tomorrow night. Ashley has to do a paper for school interviewing someone who lived through the Great Depression and also remembers when President Kennedy got shot. Would you be willing to talk to her? Also, Luis wants me to close for Tina tomorrow, so if it works out, could Ashley come over and do the interview and stay with you until I get done at the café? I know it’s kind of last minute. Anyway, sorry that was really rambly. Can you call me back if that works out for you? Thanks.”_ She rattled off her number then, too fast for Chucho to catch. Fortunately he knew how to rewind on this machine—after he got a pen and paper.

He called the number, but to his surprise, a young voice answered. “Hello?”

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d talked to a child. “Hello?”

“Hello?” the girl repeated. She sounded amused. “Hello, hello? Hi, is this Senor Pena?”

“It is. This is…Ashley?” He tried to picture her as he’d last remembered seeing her, at church wearing white for her First Communion. That had to have been a few years ago though. Surely he must have seen her since then, maybe at the café? He was certain she must be eleven, maybe twelve at least by now. “Your mom told me about your assignment. Do you still need someone to interview?”

“Yes!” She sounded relieved. “Would it be OK if I talk to you?”

“Yes, that would be fine,” he said, surprised at how formal he sounded. “But I don’t remember much about the Great Depression. I was pretty young.”

“That’s OK. Just impressions of what was happening are fine. We can focus on the assassination. Do you remember where you were and everything?”

“Oh yes.”

“OK. Thank you so much, Senor Pena. Does tomorrow sound OK? Mom has to work but she said she could drop me off if that works for you.”

“That works. What time?”

“Oh. Mom works at 7, so maybe 6:30? And she said to tell you she’ll bring your usual when she picks me up. It might get late though since cleaning up can take a while. Like, it might be 10 before she gets there. I know you have to get up early at the ranch and all…” 

“I think I can keep my eyes open.”

She giggled. “Well, thank you so much! I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night then.”

“Bye!”

He hung up, wondering how it was that girls were so much better at talking than boys. Even grown ones. He hoped she was good at it in person too, because 6:30 to 10 seemed like a very long stretch of time to try to talk to a person he barely knew.

  


  


  


Chucho didn’t need to have worried that there wouldn’t be anything to talk about. Ashley had it covered.

She’d arrived in a flurry of chatter and had arranged her things on the table on the front porch. Besides a notebook and pen, she had brought a tiny tape recorder (not unlike the one in the answering machine) that she said her mom used for her college classes. “Because,” she said gravely, “the human ear can’t catch _everything_ on its own.”

“True,” he said.

Ginny gave him an apologetic look and mouthed “thank you” over Ashley’s head before climbing in her car, her big hoop earrings swinging like crazy, and zooming out the lane, kicking up even more dust that Javi had the day before.

“Looks like we need rain,” Ashley said.

“That’s a good observation,” Chucho said.

“Not really.” Dimples, the twins of Ginny’s, appeared in her cheeks. “Ranchers always say that.”

He had to chuckle. They _were_ a predictable bunch.

“Would you like something to drink before we start? I have lemonade.” In fact, he’d made a special trip into town for some, since his usual swill of coffee or beer wouldn’t do. Kids these days probably drank coke all the time, but lemonade seemed safe.

“That sounds nice, if you’re having some,” she said.

He went into the kitchen, where earlier he’d unearthed the pitcher and washed it for the first time since Linda died. She would have done up a whole tray with cookies and napkins and the whole nine yards, but he didn’t even know where the tray was and it seemed like a lot of unnecessary fuss anyway. A pitcher full of ice and lemonade and a couple of glasses would do.

“Mmm, this is really good,” Ashley said when she’d taken a swallow. “Did you squeeze it yourself?” Her eyes twinkled at him over the glass.

Her pertness, instead of annoying him, charmed him. He grinned at her. “You know I didn’t.”

She laughed, a nice hearty sound. “It does taste fresh though. Thank you.”

_“De nada._ Now, you have some questions?”

“Yes.” Suddenly businesslike, she put a pencil behind her ear, started the recorder, and picked up a pen to write in her notebook. “Please state your full name and the year you were born.”

  


  


  


The interview was long since over and a best-of-seven checker tournament was on when Chucho finally heard a vehicle coming down the lane. He was sorry that his evening with Ashley was over because he felt like he’d made a new friend. And not just because he’d won three out of five games, either. She cheered him up. He thought they probably made a strange picture to an outside observer, an old man and a young girl sitting together on the porch playing a board game by the light of the wavery porch light bulb and four citronella candles.

But when the driver walked around the corner of the porch, it wasn’t Ginny but Javi. When he saw them, he stopped short, but he turned the hesitation into the motion of dropping his cigarette stub and grinding it out in the dirt with his boot.

“Hello, Javi,” he said, smiling but not getting up.

“Hi, Pop.” 

Javi looked at Ashley, who stood up and held out her hand. “I’m Ashley Gutierrez. You must be Senor Pena Junior.”

“I guess I am,” Javi said, moving onto the porch to shake her hand. “Nice to meet you. Checkers?” he asked, pointing his chin at the table.

“Don’t worry, I’m upholding the family honor,” Chucho said, smiling at Ashley. Her eyes twinkled back at him.

“But I’m winning this one, and I have one more to go,” Ashley declared, sitting down and narrowing her eyes at the board.

“Pull up a chair,” Chucho said to Javi. He watched him hesitate once again, then reach for the only other chair on the porch, an old wooden rocker Linda had liked because she said the seat curved where it was supposed to.

Chucho wanted to know what had happened in Houston but he didn’t want to talk about it in front of Ashley. He wanted to be able to read Javi’s face as well as hear his words.

He thought about explaining Ashley’s presence but decided it wasn’t any of Javi’s business who he invited to his own house. But Ashley did it for him.

She made a double jump. “King me!” she crowed before turning to Javi. “I came to interview your dad about what he remembers about President Kennedy’s assassination. He said you were with him in the field, helping to clean out the watering pond.”

“I was definitely too little to be any ‘help,’” Javi said with a sideways glance at him. “He was probably just getting me out of Mom’s hair. I don’t remember anything about it except that Mom was crying when we came in. Dad hugged her. And that wasn’t too unusual so I probably wouldn’t even have remembered that except for hearing them talk about it later.”

Ashley nodded eagerly. “We’re talking about that in school too, about how our family memories are passed on. Sometimes it’s a group memory rather than an individual one.”

Javi nodded too, then lit a cigarette and took a drag before he asked, “How old are you, Ashley? Are you thinking of becoming a journalist?”

“I’m twelve. I don’t know what I want to do. _Not_ wait tables though. I’m definitely going to college.”

“You should go,” Chucho said. “You’re smart as a whip.”

Ashley’s dimples flashed. “Don’t try to distract me, Senor Pena. I am going to win this game, flattery or no flattery.”

He chuckled as he made his next jump, and Ashley watched him like a hawk.

In the silence that followed, Javi asked, “Did you get your wheat planted, Dad?”

Chucho shook his head. “Only half. The 1030 broke down.”

Javi blew out an exasperated puff of smoke. “Dad, you need a newer tractor.”

“I can fix it.”

“I’ll look at it tomorrow.”

Chucho didn’t reply. Javi could fix a lot of things but tractors were not among them. Still, if Chucho couldn’t figure out the problem, maybe Javi would have some ideas.

“Checkmate.”

Chucho and Javi both looked at Ashley, who was grinning. “That’s the chess word, but it works, right?” She gestured to the board. “Next one is winner takes all.”

Chucho clicked his tongue. “You are in league with Javi to distract me.”

“I have my methods,” she said, rubbing her hands together in glee as he reset the board.

But just then they heard the crackle of gravel under tires. 

“Oh, that’s Mom coming,” Ashley sighed. “I guess we’ll have to have a rematch, Senor Pena.”

“We will,” he agreed, helping her stack the checkers back in the box.

“Thank you so much for letting me interview you,” she said quietly. “It means a lot, since I don’t have any grandparents of my own.”

He knew Ginny’s parents were dead, and Ashley probably didn’t even know her dad’s family. “I was glad to do it,” he said just as softly.

She looked up at him and smiled, and somehow he knew they were friends for life.

Ginny’s car came into view and she carefully turned around before stopping and hopping out. She seemed a little flustered as she came onto the porch and blurted, “Thank you for helping us out, Don Chucho. Sorry I’m late. I hope everything went okay?” she ended on a questioning note.

Chucho noticed that like a gentleman Javi stood as she came onto the porch, just as he was trying to do, if his stiff knees would only cooperate. “It went just fine. Ashley and I had a good time.”

“Yep, we did,” Ashley agreed, gathering up her interview materials.

“This is for you.” Ginny set a plastic bag on the table in front of him. It looked like there were two Styrofoam boxes in it, one for Javi too.

“What do I owe you for that?” he asked, feeling for his wallet.

“Oh, I put it on your tab,” she said with her usual wink.

He shook his head at her. She was trying to pay him for babysitting but it wasn’t going to work. He was pretty sure a girl like Ashley could babysit herself.

“Have you met my son, Javier?” She was too young to have gone to the same school with him and he’d been in Colombia so many years…

She turned to Javi and smiled. Chucho thought she blushed but the light was very dim and his cataract was getting worse so he couldn’t be sure. “I think we met when you were here last time, a few years ago. At the wedding.” No, he had to be mistaken. Ginny never blushed. At the café, she’d parried marriage proposals, indecent proposals, sincere compliments and vulgar ones, all without batting an eye.

Javi was shaking her hand and smiling, but before he could reply, she rushed on. “But I don’t expect you to remember. All of Laredo was there.”

“Everyone calls me Javi,” he said, neatly sidestepping the recognition issue.

“Ginny. Nice to meet you…again,” she said, extracting her hand and looking around for Ashley. “Ready to roll, Ash? It’s a school night.”

“Ready, Mom.” Ashley was halfway to the car. She put her things inside and called, “Thank you again, Senor Pena! Nice to meet you, Senor Pena Junior!”

Ginny turned back to him while Javi was waving acknowledgment. “Thank you,” she repeated softly. 

“I know,” he said before she went on. “She told me. I’m happy to help. Any time.”

It looked like she was blinking back tears as she turned away. He wondered if something had happened at the café this evening or if it was just Ashley not having grandparents that was upsetting her. Either way, it was very unusual. “Bye!” she called, not looking back.

As they pulled away, Ashley stuck her head out the window. “I’m counting on a rematch, Senor Pena!”

He waved.

Javi stood watching the taillights disappear, puffing on his cigarette. When he finally turned back to Chucho, he asked, “You do this often?”

“Do what?” Chucho asked, in between blowing out the candles and gathering up the pitcher and glasses.

“Invite women over.” He smirked around his cigarette.

“All the time, Son, all the time. You’re not the only one with the famous Pena charm.”

Javi laughed and took the pitcher from him and followed him into the house.

  


  



	3. Chapter 3

Chucho had coffee ready for Javi in a disposable to-go cup when he made his appearance with the sun the next morning. He picked it up with a nod and followed Chucho out to the truck. They drove over to the field where the tractor stood with the plow still attached, looking forlorn.

“It’s so dry,” Javi said, his first words of the day.

“Soon the grazing will be gone and I’ll have to start using hay.”

Javi grunted. “Real early in the year for that.”

“Yeah.” 

They walked over to the tractor. “Did it make some kind of noise or anything before it died?”

Chucho shook his head. “I was wondering about the radiator. Could be a leak that needs sealing.” Once on his father’s old tractor, they’d patched up a radiator crack with chewed-up bubble gum. It had held for six months. Luckily they made better sealants these days.

“Let’s take a look.”

They had worked for the better part of the morning when Chucho finally asked, “So what’s the news from Houston?”

Javi gave one last twist of the bolt before he turned to face him. “There might be a place in San Antonio. Special Agent-slash-head of division, that kind of thing.”

Chucho nodded. “What do you think?”

Javi shrugged and shoved his gloves into his back pocket. “I don’t know. San Antonio isn’t that far. But I’ll have to look into it more. They said I have time to think about it.”

“That sounds fair.”

“What do you want me to do, Dad?”

This surprised him. Javi had never asked him for advice about his job.

“I mean, Dad, this place is too much for you now by yourself.”

Chucho bit back the angry and defensive reply that rose to his lips. He remembered his recent fall. He had started praying each night not only for Javi but for himself too, that God would keep him going, or let him know when it was time to stop.

“Javier. Are you saying you want to stay and help me with the ranch instead? Your heart’s not in ranching, Son. You take down criminals. You take down criminal _organizations._ It is OK to keep on doing what you’re good at.”

Javi squinted into the distance through his aviators. “But I’m not sure I _am_ good at it, Pop. I’ve done it, sure, but am I good at it?” He shrugged again. “Sometimes it was hard to tell me from the lowlifes.” He unrolled the pack of Marlboros from his shirt sleeve and tapped one out to put in his mouth.

Chucho searched himself for some kind of wisdom to offer, and found none. Finally he said, “I don’t know what to tell you, Son. I would like to have you here with me every day, working alongside me. But Javi, I don’t expect that. And I don’t want that if it isn’t really what you want. So take your time and find the right answer. I am OK with your right answer, whatever it is.”

Javi nodded, still avoiding eye contact, and lit the cigarette. He tucked away the lighter as he said, “Why don’t you climb up and give this thing a go? If it starts, I’ll drive over and take care of the horses, check on the water level in the pond.”

To Chucho’s surprise, it started right away. He grinned down at his son. “I’ll make you into a mechanic yet.”

Javi waved him off as he walked back to the pickup.

  
  


  


The next few days were good. Javi stayed home at night when it got too dark to work and watched the baseball playoffs with him, even though Javi usually paid even less attention to baseball than he did football. He drank nothing stronger than Chucho’s favorite beer. He even reminisced about things they’d all done together while Linda was alive, like the time he’d insisted on sitting in the first row of the stands at the dirt track race at the fair, and how his mom had been furious that they’d come home filthy and mostly deaf. 

Chucho had forgotten that. He remembered now how Linda had gone on and on about it, even though he couldn’t hear her any more than she could hear him. She was still mad as a wet hen the next day and she somehow managed to burn the tamales for supper. He and Javi went out in the truck later, supposedly to work until dark, but he drove them into town and they got chili dogs at the Dairy Queen.

“You are a lot like her, Javi,” he said when they were done chuckling. “She held on to things for a long time. I know,” he put in, as Javi started to speak, “that what you’ve faced in Colombia is nothing, nothing like anything she ever experienced in her whole life. But it’s a trait you both have,” he said.

“Well, you’re probably right,” Javi sighed.

But Friday, when they came in from the fields, Javi took a shower while Chucho started supper. But when he came into the kitchen, he only said, “See you, Pop,” and walked out the door. Chucho sighed and went back to frying as he heard the Jeep go out the lane. He sat down to another solo supper, but the phone rang. He pushed back his chair and got up to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hello?” said a quavery young voice. “Senor Peña?”

“Hello, Ashley. Is something wrong?”

A sniffle. “Yes. Sort of. Mom said I shouldn’t ask you but I am anyway. We have this Grandparents’ Night at school next week and I want you to come.”

Chucho felt his heart squeeze. For a moment he couldn’t speak. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Well, Ashley, I can’t go behind your mother’s back. But I could talk to her about it.”

A little sob came over the line. “OK. That would work. Thank you. I think she’d listen to you. It’s just… All the other kids…”

“I know,” Chucho said.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “Mom doesn’t understand. She always had grandparents growing up.”

Again he had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Is she at work tonight? I could try to catch her when she gets done with her shift.”

“Yeah. She doesn’t have to close, so she’ll be done at 9.”

“I can’t promise anything, Ashley. I can only talk to her.”

“I know. That means a lot if you just try. Thanks,” she said for the third time on another sob, and hung up abruptly.

Well. Chucho looked at the big kitchen clock on the wall. Eight o’clock. He’d get cleaned up and see if there was any time left to eat his cold supper before he had to drive the half hour into town. 

He didn’t know what had happened to the bright and chipper girl he’d met on Tuesday, but the one he’d just spoken to on the phone was honestly the one he’d been expecting, given her age and all.

Was he crazy to get involved in this? he wondered as he climbed into the pickup later and pulled the door shut. Probably. But if he couldn’t reach Javi, maybe he could still reach Ashley.

  


  
  


He sat waiting on the bench outside the café until Ginny came out and he called her name.

“Oh, hi, Don Chucho! What are you doing here?” She smiled and sat down beside him, cradling her big handbag on her lap.

“Well, Ginny, it seems I’m here on behalf of Ashley.”

She looked up at the sky and made a frustrated growling noise. “Let me guess. She called you about the Grandparents’ Night thing.”

He nodded.

“After I specifically told her not to!” 

He cocked his head. “But why did you tell her not to, Ginny? I don’t mind.”

She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “It’s not really any of your business, Don Chucho,” she said.

“Not really,” he agreed mildly. 

She sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m so mad at her right now. It’s not your fault.”

He waited.

“It’s just…it’s…” She bit her lip this time. “You know how the old biddies talk.”

“OK…,” he prompted. He had never, at any time in his sixty-something years, given one hoot about old biddies’ talk.

She smiled ruefully. “I can see you’ve never been the subject of their chats.”

“Oh, I probably have. But I can understand how you might be a little leery of them. So what’s the problem?”

She fidgeted with her handbag and jiggled her knee. “They’ll say… They’re already saying… Yesterday Marge Breeman’s sister said right as I was walking by that it’s pathetic what some women will stoop to to catch Javi Peña’s eye.” She stopped and pressed her lips together. Chucho thought he caught the sheen of tears in her eyes. “If she drags you to the grandparents’ thing in front of everyone at school… I don’t want”—she seemed to change what she was about to say—“ _anyone_ to get the wrong idea.”

Chucho was not the quickest man on the uptake, he knew that. But she was normally unflappable, and the way she was acting made him wonder… Did she have a crush on Javi after all? He’d have to think back over how she’d been the other night when she came by to pick up Ashley.

But right now he said gently, “But I thought we were talking about Ashley.”

She swallowed and seemed to regain her composure. “Yes, but don’t you think it’s weird that she wants to bring someone she barely even knows to a school thing as her grandpa? Everyone knows you’re not.”

“I don’t think it’s weird. She doesn’t have a grandpa like her classmates. I like her and I think she’d be a wonderful granddaughter.”

This time he was sure tears filled her eyes. “I’m just being flat-out selfish, aren’t I? You think she needs this?”

“I don’t know, Ginny. You know her through and through and I don’t. But I remember how your nana used to dote on you, and oh, did your poppy brag.”

“And she never had any of that, that she can remember.” She sighed.

“You’re a good mom, Ginny. You talk to her, and you’ll figure it out. You just remind me when the thing is, if you want me, and I’ll pick her up. If not, that’s OK too.”

She smiled, a little tremulously. “All right. Deal. Hey, Don Chucho, thanks for caring about us, you know? I know you’re worried enough… But anyway. Thanks for taking time out for me and Ash.” 

“That’s all right then,” he said, standing with the aid of the arm of the bench. She stood and waved until he climbed into his truck and headed home.

When he got back, Javi’s Jeep was parked in front of the house. Chucho checked his watch—not even ten yet.

“Hey, Pop, where you been?” Javi asked when he came in the door. 

“Just out,” Chucho said. “Did I forget to lock the doors or something?”

“No, but you left all the lights on.”

“Says the one who never turns them off when he leaves the room.”

Javi shrugged. 

“Where were you?” Chucho asked, taking his hat off and hanging it on its peg by the kitchen door.

“Just out,” Javi said, grinning, but he was holding a fifth of whisky.

“Well, I’m going to bed. I want to try to bush hog that field by the river tomorrow, get it under control before winter. We’re supposed to get a cold front coming through that could bring some rain, so I want to get an early start.”

“OK, what do you want me to do?”

“Help me hook it up to the tractor. That thing’s heavy and it’s real awkward to hitch up.”

“All right. I’ll be there, Pop.”

“’Night, Son.”

  


  
  


It was hard to get out of bed to go to church Sunday morning. The promised storm the day before had been nothing but thunder, lightning, wind…and no rain. Chucho had mowed—trying very hard not to think of the implications for Javi when he saw the boats ferrying cargo on the river—until the lightning flying around had raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He’d normally have been irked that Javi was fussing over him, but he’d been pretty glad to see his son arrive at edge of the field in the pickup to get him. When it was over, there were fences to fix again, with Javi’s help. He’d have to wait to finish bush hogging till Monday.

But this week Chucho _needed_ mass. The weight on his heart was not getting any lighter. Maybe church and confession would help. It couldn’t hurt to try. 

  


  
  


He came in the kitchen door in the afternoon, this time with a takeout container full of food for Javi, who never seemed to cook for himself. No wonder he stayed so thin. Again Chucho wasn’t sure when Javi had come home, but he’d need to eat eventually.

He put the food in the fridge, grabbed a beer, and went into the living room to watch the game in his chair. He pulled the lever that popped the footrest up and sighed. It had been a strange lunch. The guys were strangely quiet. Carlo didn’t flirt with Ginny and Ed wouldn’t meet her eye, or Chucho’s. 

Chucho supposed they had been listening to the old biddies, just as Ginny had feared. People were so ridiculous sometimes. Didn’t they have work to do? He shook his head and pressed the remote button to find the channel with the game.

It wasn’t until the two-minute warning that Javi wandered into the room, shirtless and with his hair sticking up all over the back of his head. His eyes looked bloodshot. Must have been a rough night. Chucho had a pretty good idea of how Javi blew off steam, and maybe it was hypocritical of him, but mixed in with his prayers that Javi would stay on the straight and narrow and find healing for his soul were prayers that Javi wouldn’t catch anything that antibiotics couldn’t cure. 

“Hey, Pop,” he said, his voice gravelly.

“I put some chili in the fridge for you. Con carne.”

Javi looked a little pained but he said, “Thanks, Dad. I’ll have some later.” He walked into the kitchen and then Chucho heard the coffeepot gurgling.

The phone rang. “Can you get that?” Chucho called.

“Hello?” Javi’s voice said after the ringing stopped. “No, this is Javi…. Hi, Ashley…. Yeah, he’s right here. Hold on.”

The hand unit appeared beside him and Chucho put it to his ear. “Ashley, how are you?”

“I’m good,” came Ashley’s voice, the chipper one. “Thank you sooo much for talking to Mom. She said I could call and invite you officially to Grandparents’ Night. It’s Tuesday at 7 at the middle school. It’s just the orchestra and the chorus and the jazz band doing a couple of songs each. Then there’s cookies and stuff afterwards in the lobby.”

“That sounds nice. Are you in the orchestra?”

She giggled. “Like Mom could stand the noise. No. I’m in the chorus.” She lowered her voice. “I’m an alto. Actually,” she said in a normal tone, “since there are hardly any boys, sometimes Mr. Willitts asks me to sing baritone. It’s harder to find the harmony though.”

“Hmm, I bet,” Chucho said.

“So anyway, it should probably last a couple of hours with the refreshments. Oh, and Mom says to tell you that even though parents can come too, she won’t be there. Just you and me.”

“Oh,” he said. He guessed Ginny was trying not to add fuel to the fire, but he doubted her strategy would make any difference. “Well, that’s fine. So Tuesday at 7? Should I pick you up around 6:30?”

“Yeah, that would be good, because I have to be there a little early to warm up.” She sang a series of _la la_ s up and down and giggled before she added, “Thank you again, Senor Peña! You’re the best! I’ll see you Tuesday! Bye!” 

He squinted and found the button to hang up.

“Got a date, Dad?” Javi asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Yep, Tuesday night at the junior high school. Peña charm, I told you.”

Javi shook his head, smiling faintly, and sat on the couch. Chucho watched him throw back a couple of pills, Tylenol by the look of them, and wash them down with the coffee.

He turned his attention back to the TV. He was not going to pry into Javi’s business. If Javi wanted him to know what was going on in his head, he’d tell him.

Wouldn’t he?

  



	4. Chapter 4

Javi was the one waiting with the extra to-go cup of coffee Monday morning when Chucho came into the kitchen.

“I like this,” Chucho said, taking a sip. “Good service. And good coffee.”

“I was always the only one in the office who could ever make a decent pot,” Javi said dryly.

“And I wanted to tell you,” Chucho said, “that I’ve noticed that you’ve been cleaning for me. Bathroom, kitchen. Even inside the microwave. I can’t see as well as I used to with this cataract, but it’s not bad enough yet for surgery, doc says.”

“Maybe you should have it done while I’m here so I can help out.”

“So then you’re planning to go?”

“No, Pop, I told you don’t know yet. Just making a simple remark that I could help you if you want to get it done soon.”

“OK,” Chucho said soothingly. Javi got exasperated very easily these days.

But when they got into the truck to inspect the rest of the fencing, it wouldn’t start. Javi put his hand to his forehead and growled. “Dad, how old is this truck?”

“It’s an ’82 and it works fine, most of the time. I’ll see what I can do. Why don’t you take your Jeep or maybe the tractor and go check the fence for me?”

Javi muttered under his breath but he got out and did as Chucho suggested. Chucho, guiltily, felt relieved. Javi’s moods could be intense.

After some puttering and trial and error, he figured it must be the starter. Not too expensive. He’d have to go call Buddy at the parts store to see if they had that in stock.

Just as he’d started toward the house, Javi pulled up in the Jeep.

“Everything OK with the fence?” 

“Yeah, Pop, but there’s a stretch out by the road that’s pretty wobbly. We’ll have to take care of that soon.”

 _We’ll._ That sounded nice.

“So what’s up with the truck?”

“Starter. I was just going to go in and call to see if they have the part in town.”

“How old is the battery on that thing?”

“I don’t know.” Chucho pushed his hat back higher on his forehead. “Eight years? Probably need a new one before long, I guess.”

“Yeah. I need to run into town anyway. Why don’t I pick up what you need?”

“All right.” Chucho watched Javi climb into the Jeep and tear off down the lane. He wondered what was so urgent to get in town.

  


  


  


Chucho had just gone into the house when Javi pulled up by the front porch.

“Good news and bad news, Dad,” he said, putting a plastic bag on the kitchen table. “Bad news is, starter's not in stock. The guy said he can probably get it in by tomorrow, but he’s going to call and let us know when for sure. Good news, got the new battery out in the Jeep. And I got us lunch at Luis’s.”

“That is good news.” Chucho pulled out a box from the bag and opened it. “My usual. Ginny must have been there.”

Javi shook his head. “No, it was some really young girl. Big hair, lots of teeth.”

“Oh, Tina.”

“Maybe. Anyway, I ordered your favorite, Dad. Ginny’s not the only one that’s got your back.” He grinned.

“That’s nice, Son. I appreciate that.” He washed his hands and sat down at the table. “So I’m thinking tomorrow we’ll have to start putting hay in the feeders.”

Javi sat too and nodded. “OK. And Pop, I don’t think that wheat is going to amount to anything.”

Chucho sighed. “Maybe if it rains the next couple days.”

  


  


  


It didn’t occur to Chucho that he had no transportation for his date that night until he had the big round bale of hay resting neatly in the round feeder with half the herd of cows bawling after him. Maybe he should have started with the hay sooner. The younger calves ran to catch up to their mothers, their tails flopping like dogs’. By the look of things, this bale would be gone before the day was out.

Fortunately he saw Javi on the way back to the barn and waved him down. He let the tractor idle while Javi walked over. “Javi, I forgot. Tonight is that thing at the school for Ashley. You think I could take your Jeep?”

A grin grew on his face. “How the tables have turned, Dad.” 

Chucho chuckled, remembering the days before Javi had saved up the money to buy his Firebird and had to borrow the pickup for his dates.

“Sure, but don’t forget it dings at you if you forget the seat belt. Oh, wait.” Javi took off his sunglasses. “I told the guy at the parts store I’d come in for that starter. He said it won’t be delivered until after hours but he’s going to wait around for me to pick it up.”

“Oh.”

“Tell you what. I’ll drive you guys over to the school and get the part while you’re enjoying high culture, and then I’ll pick you up again.”

“OK, sounds good.”

  


  


  


Chucho had already decided that the occasion warranted wearing his suit, his new hat, and his best boots. Javi whistled at him when he came out of his room.

“I can’t put Ashley to shame in front of her friends,” Chucho explained. 

“You look nice, Dad,” Javi said. “You smell nice too. English Leather and everything.” He grinned. 

Chucho didn’t remember teasing Javi before his dates (that boy had spent hours combing his hair _just right_ in front of the mirror), but maybe he had and this was payback. 

As they were tearing down the road at typical Javi speed, he said, “Pop, do you wish you had real grandkids?”

Chucho didn’t know what to say. It seemed like there was no good answer. Finally he said, “Do you mean if you had stayed with Lorraine? Or just grandkids in general?”

Javi stared straight ahead at the road. “Either.”

Chucho thought for a while before he said, “Well, I’d like to have grandchildren. But I’m happy with the child I’ve got, and I don’t need him to be anything more just to give me some.”

Javi shot him a look he couldn’t read, but the tension eased in the car, so his answer must have been all right.

Chucho gave Javi directions to the apartment building by the park where Ginny lived. Javi let him out at the stairs and he puffed up to the top before knocking. 

“Hi, Senor Peña!” Ashley said, slipping out the door and then turning to lock it. “Mom had to run to the grocery store since we’re out of milk and like, fifteen other things. She said if she didn’t get back in time to tell you hey. She has a test tomorrow.”

“OK. You look very pretty, Ashley.”

“Thanks. Mom let me wear makeup, see?” She widened her eyes and blinked at Chucho, but didn’t wait for a reply. “Just for tonight. Then she took pictures.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, you look nice too. New hat?”

“Nothing but the best for Grandparents’ Night.”

Ashley laughed.

“Are you nervous?”

“Nah,” she said, trotting down the steps ahead of him. “I’ve done dozens of concerts.” She saw Javi’s Jeep at the curb. “Oh, hi, Senor Peña Junior!” She leaned over and waved into the window as he waved back and then she slipped into the back seat. She seemed to take Javi’s presence for granted, as if the two Peñas were a package deal.

“You’re supposed to wait for the boy to open the door for you,” Chucho chided when he got inside.

Ashley snorted. “Then I’d be waiting all day. But I forgot _you’re_ a gentleman, Senor Peña.” She chattered all the way to the school, but once there she remembered to wait for Chucho to open her door before Javi drove off.

Chucho found a seat near the middle of the right side of the auditorium with all the other older people. He knew quite of few of them, and recognized most of the rest of them. Ashley’s group sang second and he felt a little tingle of pride to see her concentrating so fiercely. He wished he could hear her sing by herself.

Afterwards he stood to the side of the refreshment table and waited for Ashley to come out from backstage. He noticed a few odd looks, but he paid them no mind.

“Chucho?”

He turned to see an old friend. “Manny! It is good to see you! I can’t remember the last time I saw you out and about.” They shook hands. Manny didn’t look any better under the florescent lights of the lobby than he looked Sundays at home after lunch, with dark circles under his eyes and hollows in his cheeks.

“I had to come and see my oldest grandson, Miles. He was the one playing the string base and wearing the light-up bow tie.”

Chucho chuckled. “I did notice him.”

Manny’s chest swelled. “It was a nice little wink to me. I got him that tie for Christmas last year as a joke.”

“What a good kid.”

“Who are you here for, Chucho?”

“Ashley Gutierrez. She’s adopted me for the evening.”

“Ginny’s girl? Ginny--now there’s a good kid.”

“Both of them are.”

“I don’t know Ashley too well, but Ginny’s been so kind to us. I know she doesn’t have much spare time, but just recently she brought some food over and ordered me to take a break while she sat with Bonnie. And then she went over our insurance handbook and found that it would pay for a nurse to come in twice a week. One came tonight. But I don’t even know what I’ll do with myself with time off, it’s been so long. Miles says I can start teaching him to drive, but my blood pressure is not up to that.”

“You should get out of the house, come over and visit. I have the checkerboard out these days. That’s easy on the blood pressure.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to come when Javi’s home. You’ll want to spend time with him.”

Chucho chuckled. “Well, he’s not really one to stay home evenings. You just come over, Manny. It’ll be nice to talk with you again like we used to.”

“Hi, Senor Peña.” Ashley appeared at his side. “How’d you like it?” Introductions went around and Manny praised her mother to Ashley, who nodded wisely.

“Mom said Dona Bonita taught her to knit in Girl Scouts, and she’s always been grateful. When I was little I had a new hat, mittens, and scarf set every year and I _had_ to wear them to school in the winter even when it wasn’t cold. Which it never was. I got so sweaty. I was kind of glad when she started classes and didn’t have time to decorate me anymore.” Her dimples flashed.

“She was just loving on you, honey,” Manny said, and then someone else greeted him and he turned away.

“I wanted you to meet my friend Tricia, but I think she had to go already,” Ashley said to Chucho, standing on her tiptoes to look through the crowd. “Or else she went to talk to _Michael_.” 

Chucho was afraid to ask about _Michael._ “Well, I can meet her another time. Did you get some cookies?”

“Yeah, I’m ready to go if you are.”

Chucho had wondered where Javi would pick them up, but he didn’t need to have worried he wouldn’t find him. Javi had pulled right up to the curb near the main doors of the school, and was leaning against the Jeep smoking and talking to a group of what looked a lot like admiring fans. Chucho couldn’t help but think that wearing his leather jacket, Javi looked like a cross between Burt Reynolds and the Marlboro Man, with maybe a dash of that guitar player Javi liked. Something Santana?

“Hey, Pop,” he said, and the crowd dispersed. “How did it go, Ashley?”

“Pretty good,” she said cheerfully. This time Javi opened the door for her and winked at her and she gave him back a cheeky grin before sliding inside.

When they got to the apartments, Javi pulled up into one of the spaces in front of the building. “Hey, would you guys like to come in, say hi to mom?” Ashley was already out the door (forgetting again to have it opened for her) and moving toward the stairs without giving them a chance to decline.

“Well, I guess we better go say hello,” Chucho said, eyeing Javi. Javi’s expression didn’t change, but he stubbed out his cigarette and got out as Chucho did.

Ashley was waiting for them when he finally arrived, puffing slightly, at the top of the steps. She waved them on and walked in through the door to the apartment. “Hey, Mom, guess who I brought?”

The first thing Chucho saw was Ginny standing behind the kitchen counter, her hair in a very messy bun, her mouth full of what seemed to pizza, and her brown eyes huge as she watched them come in. Her eyes went to Ashley and back to them, and she started to choke.

It turned into a fit of coughing and Ashley went in beside her mom and pounded her back. “Mom, are you all right?”

She nodded, her eyes watering, and it was then that Chucho noticed she was wearing only socks and a very large T-shirt, or maybe a short nightgown, with a faded picture of a blue cartoon bear on it.

“You guys can go in and sit down,” Ashley said blithely. But when they got to the living room, the couch was covered with boxes and assorted junk.

“Oh yeah,” Ashley said, coming over to move the boxes onto the floor. “I forgot. Mom’s in charge of the PTO bazaar fundraiser and this lady dropped off her donations today. Mom has to sort them all.”

“Sorry!” Ginny said between coughs.

Javi helped Ashley stack the boxes, and Ginny edged around the kitchen counter and made a dash for the bedroom.

By the time there was room to sit Ginny had emerged, her hair now pulled back into a neat ponytail and wearing jeans, her big dangly earrings, and a smaller and newer, cartoonless shirt. 

She cleared her throat. “Can I, uh, get you guys something to drink?” 

“No, thanks,” Chucho said, smiling a little. “We can’t stay. We just stopped in to say hi. It was a nice concert. Ashley was good.”

“I’m getting the solo for the Christmas concert,” Ashley declared. She handed Javi an old book and said as an aside, “That’s totally junk. It’s moldy.” She pointed. “That’s the trash bag.” Javi obeyed her instructions with more good humor than Chucho would have dreamed. 

“Yeah, _Brandi,_ the girl with the solo _this_ time, thinks she’s all that and a bag of chips because she takes ‘voice lessons,’” Ashley said with air quotes.

“Ashley. Brandi’s a good singer.” Ginny had her hands on her hips. “I know she’s mean, but you gotta try to give credit where it’s due.”

Ashley shrugged moodily and handed Javi a Barbie doll with a missing leg and a sock with a hole in it. Chucho knew his son pretty well, and even though there were no outward signs, he thought Javi was finding the experience rather amusing. 

“Ugh, this is _all_ junk,” Ashley said, and dumped the whole box into the trash bag without even looking through the rest of it. She dusted her hands. “You should let me do this, Mom.”

Javi covered his mouth and pretended he was coughing, and Chucho stood. “Thank you for inviting me, Ashley.”

She hopped up. “Thank you, Senor Peña.” She lowered her voice as she walked him to the door. “It meant a lot,” she said. She took his hand and squeezed it and he squeezed back before letting go.

Behind him he heard Javi saying, “It was nice to see you again…er, Grouchy Bear.” Chucho turned his head to see Ginny turning scarlet as Javi sauntered to the door behind him.

Chucho had just reached the first step when he heard Ginny call out the door, “It’s _Grumpy_ Bear anyway!” Baffled, he glanced at Javi, who didn’t look back and was smiling from ear to ear.

Chucho didn’t know what kind of strange flirting this was, but if it had Javi smiling, he was all for it.

  


  



	5. Chapter 5

When Chucho pulled the pickup into Luis’s after church on Sunday, he was surprised to see Javi’s Jeep in the parking lot. As he got out, Javi did too. 

“Hey, Pop. OK if I join your crew today?” 

“Well, sure, Javi, but I thought you didn’t like Ed Breeman? I’m not going to forget anytime soon how you slashed his truck tires when he shot that stray dog you fed once.” 

“I’m not going to forget anytime soon how you made me work all summer for him to pay for those tires.” 

“They were worth a lot.” 

“Yes, well so is a life,” Javi snapped. He leaned down to drop his cigarette on the ground and grind it out. “Anyway,” he said in a calmer voice. “We’re even now. I had to work all summer for him and he had to put up with teenage me. We’ll let bygones be bygones.” 

It turned out Chucho’s “crew” was delighted to see Javi. There was much backslapping and handshaking and reminiscing, and the atmosphere was entirely different from last week. Chucho was content to sit back and watch. A suspicion of why Javi was really here was growing. 

Javi could be charming when he wanted, and he was pouring it on. When Ginny came to take their order, he flirted with her, but she seemed completely indifferent to him, and slightly cold, as if he were a seedy stranger. 

But when lunch was over, Javi took Chucho’s check and his own up to the register to pay. Chucho stood by the door but he heard Ginny say, as she usually did, “Did you enjoy your meal today?” 

“I enjoyed it a lot, Grumpy Bear,” Javi said. 

Chucho distinctly saw Ginny blush. He almost blushed himself at this blatant flirting. Ginny was so rattled she made a mistake and had to ring the meals up twice while Javi stood there smiling at her. She handed him the receipt like she was afraid he had the plague and darted back into the kitchen through the swinging doors. 

Chucho walked into the parking lot with Javi and Ginny came out after them, carrying a takeout container. “For Don Manuel,” she said to Chucho, ignoring Javi. 

“Thank you, Ginny,” he said, but she was already hurrying back inside. Fortunately he had already left a nice tip on the table for her. 

Chucho wasn’t too happy about the smug look on Javi’s face, but it was none of his business. He knew Ginny could hold her own…once she recovered her composure. 

He wasn’t sure if this was the right time, given what he’d just witnessed, but he had made up his mind to say something, and he didn’t want to lose the moment. 

“Javi,” he said when they got to the truck, “your mother and I were disappointed that you’d do something as serious as slash the tires of someone we called friend. But I want you to know, if we didn’t tell you then, that we were proud of the way you owned up to what you’d done and were willing to make it right.” 

That wiped the pleased expression right off Javi’s face. He looked over at his Jeep, put on his aviators, and just nodded before walking over and getting inside. 

Chucho wondered all the way to Manny’s house if he’d said the wrong thing. He hadn’t intended to hurt Javi—in fact he’d intended the opposite—yet somehow he felt he had. 

He sighed. He remembered that Ed said he thought the dog had rabies, plus he was raising sheep then, and of course they didn’t mix with stray dogs. Chucho didn’t know. Maybe he should just stop worrying and let bygones be bygones too. He couldn’t always walk on eggshells around his son. 

  


  


  


Tuesday afternoon Chucho was in the shed trying to diagnose what was wrong with the baler. The belt wasn’t moving like it should be, but he couldn’t figure out if plain old wear was what has causing it to slip. Belts for these were expensive, maybe $300 a shot, so he wasn’t going to buy a new one unless there were no other options. It wasn’t going to survive another season—in fact, he wasn’t sure it would even start it. 

He tinkered with the mechanism a bit. Something stretchy here would do to smooth out the motion, hold it on the track. Not a bungee—too thick. What he really needed was a pair of women’s pantyhose. He’d have to check the backs of the bedroom dresser drawers—he hadn’t had the heart to get rid of all of Linda’s things yet—and see if there were any left around anywhere. Or else he’d have to go into town to buy a pair. That would set the biddies talking. He chuckled to himself. He’d definitely send Javi for that. 

Speak of the devil. 

“Hi, Pop.” Javi had come into the shed and was handing him a cold beer. 

Chucho popped the top and took a sip. “Ah, thanks. That hits the spot. But I thought we were out of Tecate?” 

“I ran into town to get some.” 

“That was nice of you.” 

Javi nodded and took a sip himself. He was wearing his aviators, as usual. “What are you doing trying to fix this thing this time of year?” 

“Well, it has to be done sometime before summer. Why not today?” 

Javi shrugged and took another sip. “Dad, I heard something at the liquor store.” 

Uh-oh. Here it was. “I bet that was worth hearing.” 

“There’s talk going around that you’re seeing Ginny Gutierrez.” 

“Oh that’s—wait, _I’m_ seeing Ginny?” 

Javi nodded. 

Chucho started to laugh. It struck him as so absurd that his whole body shook and he had to put the beer can on the top of the baler so he didn’t spill it all over himself. The paroxysm finally ended and he stood wiping his eyes, looking at his son fondly. He didn’t want to puff up the boy’s ego, but the idea that any woman, young or old, would look twice at Chucho Peña when Javi Peña was in the vicinity was just too ridiculous. Besides which, he loved Ginny like a daughter and he and Ginny both knew it. 

“You done now, Dad?” 

“Hmm, yeah, I think so,” he said, picking up his beer again. 

“Now that you’ve had your little chuckle, have you thought about how Ginny might feel about this rumor?” 

Ho-ho, so he was concerned about Ginny, was he? Chucho had to turn away to hide a smile, pretend to putter with the baler. “Oh, Son, Ginny and I have both lived in this town for ages. Neither of us takes things too seriously and neither should you. It’ll blow over and someone else will get the spotlight for a while. I’m sure there’s a rumor or two floating around about you.” 

Javi made an exasperated sound and walked back toward the house. Chucho wiped his eyes again. He wondered if _that_ was the rumor that had his “crew” acting so strange the other day. 

Another spasm of laughter shook him. He sure hoped he could find some stockings of Linda’s, because Javi would _not_ take kindly to a request at this time to buy his pop a pair. 

The baler was fixed by nightfall with one leg of Linda’s old hose and seven thick strips of duct tape. Javi had gone somewhere after they ate, and Chucho was just as glad. He would not have told Javi the secret to his success for worlds. 

  


  


  


The phone rang the next evening as Chucho was washing up the supper dishes. 

“Hello, Senor Peña?” Ashley was whispering. 

“Yes, what is it?” he whispered back. 

“Is Senor Peña Junior there with you somewhere?” 

“No,” he whispered into the receiver. “He went into town.” 

“Oh good,” she said at normal volume. “Listen, Mom’s at her class and I just _have_ to tell you something. Are you ready?” 

“Should I sit down?” 

“Maybe. Are you settled? Here it is: I think Mom and your son like each other.” 

“Hmm. What makes you say that?” 

“Well. Wait until you hear _this_ juicy bit. So, I was sitting there last night doing homework, minding my own business, when someone knocked on the door. I looked out the peephole and it was Senior Peña Junior. Well, Mom tore into me last time I let you guys in when she was wearing that dumb Care Bear nightgown she got from Goodwill like, _ten years ago_ or something and will _not_ throw away because it’s ‘comfortable.’” Chucho could hear the air quotes. “So this time I said who it was before I opened the door and she gave a little gasp and ran and changed her clothes in her room, even though she was not wearing that Care Bear thing, just old stuff while she was sorting that lady’s junk for the sale. He asked if he could talk to Mom and she came out. But get this, Senor Peña. She was _blushing._ You know Mom never blushes. I was like, _What is going on here?_ I did this quiz once in a magazine about what kind of personality you are and it said I was romantic, and you know, I think it might be right because at that moment I _whisked_ myself into my room so they could be alone.” 

“Very wise.” 

“I think so too, besides being the polite thing to do. So anyway. I might have left the door open a crack but I couldn’t hear much of what they were saying except that it made Mom laugh so hard she was crying. Which is _not_ smart because she keeps forgetting she bought that mascara that _runs._ So then what do you think happened?” 

“I have no idea.” 

“Well, Senor Peña Junior went and said something that made her mad, and she said something back and he got all still and stiff-necked like _he_ was mad, and there was this moment like on the telenovelas, which of course I never watch because they’re so _cheesy,_ when it looked like they were going to either slap each other or kiss.” 

“That sounds very dramatic.” 

“Yeah it was totally, but they didn’t do either one. _He_ just turned and walked out without one word. And then _she_ sat down and cried for real. But that _also_ happens on the telenovelas, which of course I never watch. Oh, and it _completely_ ruined her mascara. When I get my allowance I’m buying her a tube of waterproof because this can’t go on.” 

“Interesting.” 

“Isn’t it? Do you think they like each other?” 

“Well,” he said carefully, “I think they might. But it’s a tricky business, Ashley. They have a lot to sort out. We both have to be careful to stay out of it and let them figure it out themselves.” 

“That will be hard,” she said with a sigh. “It would have a pretty big impact on my life if they got together, like, permanently.” 

“Me too,” he said. 

“Yeah,” she said. “Well, at least we’re in the same boat. But that’s good. I like our boat.” 

“It’s a good one,” he agreed. 

“OK, well, I better go. I just wanted to give you the big news. We’ll have to consult on this later.” 

He hesitated. “Ashley?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I think maybe…maybe we should keep this just between us. I mean, not tell your friends.” 

“Oh, I know—it would get back to the old biddies. I’ve been good. I didn’t even tell Tricia today at school even though I was _dying_ to. I had to tell someone though, and I knew you’d understand. And you would never, ever tell the old biddies _anything._ They could torture you at the rack, and you wouldn’t breathe a word.” 

“Well, you know, I don’t think I would.” 

“Exactly. You stick to your principles no matter what. That’s why Senor Peña Junior is so tough. He gets that steely determination from you. OK, gotta go. We’ll talk later! Bye!” 

“Bye,” he said and hung up, stunned at this new vision of himself. 

  


  


  


“Hey, Pop. I bought you something,” Javi said an hour later when he came into the living room. 

“Oh?” Chucho pressed the mute button on the TV remote. He didn’t really care for either of the teams left, so the World Series this year was going to be pretty dull. 

“This.” Javi pulled out something black with a screen from a bag. _NOKIA_ it said across the top. “It’s a cell phone.” 

“Javi,” Chucho said, “what in the world do I need a cell phone for? I have a perfectly good phone right there on the wall.” 

“Pop, listen. You’re out all day on the ranch, and a lot of the time I’m not with you. It’s dangerous work. It’s not a desk job. What if something happened?” He flourished the phone. “You can call me, call the house, call for help. See, I put my cell on speed dial 1, the house on—”

“Javier. I do not need a cell phone. I am not learning that thing. I am fine.” 

“Dad, what if—”

“—something happened to me? I guess, Javi, I would take care of myself, like I have pretty competently for about six decades.” Chucho turned off the TV and stood up. “You never listen to me. And you can take that thing back to the store.” 

“I can’t take it back, Dad. It’s already got minutes on it and everything. Can you at least keep it in your truck?” 

“You can put it in the truck. I’m going to bed. Which I can still do by myself. Without any help, electronic or otherwise.”

  


  



	6. Chapter 6

Chucho hadn’t slept well. The conversation with Javi the evening before had played over and over in his head like a tape recording. He felt extremely sleepy as he measured out the coffee, then forgot how many scoops he’d already put into the filter basket. _Well, guess it’s time for the rest home,_ he thought, sarcasm and anger welling up. He eyeballed the amount, which looked fine, so he closed the lid and flipped the switch to start it. 

Ashley’s words about steely determination mocked him. Maybe he was just being a stubborn old man about the cell phone. It was not out of the question. He sighed. He remembered that fall he’d taken… 

He didn’t want to be mad at Javi. He knew he meant well. It was just having his competence called into question like that, _again…_

Javi came into the kitchen looking serious. Chucho braced himself for more arguing. 

“Dad, look.” He filled a glass half full with water at the sink. It had a brownish tinge. “This happened while I was shaving.” 

Chucho looked at him. “The coffee water was OK. But I put a load of wash in when I got up. We’re going to have to start rationing the water so the well doesn’t go dry.” 

Javi nodded grimly. “We better go check the watering pond again, Pop.” 

There was water in the pond when they got there, but the level was low and it was brackish looking. The horses stood around swishing their tails against the flies, looking glum at how far into the mud they had to go to reach the water. 

“Your great-grandfather bought this land because of this spring,” Chucho said when they had stood looking silently at it for a while. “He was told that spring hadn’t failed in a hundred years.” 

“It hasn’t yet,” Javi said. 

Chucho sighed. “I know a man who’ll haul river water in. I bet he’s backed up though, but I’ll give him a call. Maybe we can clean up the old milk tanks, store it in there.” 

“OK, Dad. I’m going to call one of those water cooler places and see if we can get regular delivery to the house for cooking.” 

Chucho winced and Javi added hastily, “I’m paying.” 

He tried not to wince any harder. He knew Javi had dropped a chunk of change on the cell phone. They weren’t cheap. He hadn’t even checked the glove box to see if Javi had put the thing in there. 

The barnyard well that the old hand pump tapped into it seemed to still be OK, and they hooked up a hose and used it sparingly that afternoon to scrub out the old milk tanks stored in the back of the shed from when Chucho’s father had kept milk cows. Javi was limber enough to climb inside and scrub by hand, which saved a lot of water. When he finally climbed out, it was dark. He and Chucho walked back to the house, and Chucho couldn’t help but think, as he looked at his filthy son, that despite their disagreements, he was so grateful to have his hardworking boy beside him. And was it his imagination, or was Javi sticking to tasks better than he had been a month ago? That was a good sign for his state of mind, wasn’t it? 

Javi got in the shower while Chucho started pork chops for supper. Javi had left his wallet, keys, and cell phone on the kitchen table, and the phone started buzzing and vibrated its way almost onto the floor. Chucho didn’t know how to answer it and he wouldn’t have if he could. But no sooner had it stopped than the house phone rang. That Chucho could handle. “Hello?” 

“Hi…is this Mr. Peña?” 

“It is. Are you looking for Javi?” 

“Yeah. This is Steve. Steve Murphy.” 

“Oh yes, his partner! How are you? We are so proud of you here in Hebbronville.” 

Steve chuckled. “Well, thank you, but I bet you’re prouder of Javi.” 

“I’m afraid that’s true. But thank you, thank you for your service, for watching out for Javi, as I’m sure you did. Would you like to talk to him? He just came in.” 

Chucho handed off the cordless phone to Javi, who took it and disappeared out onto the back veranda. Javi was gone for a long time. Chucho finished the pork chops and rice, then decided not to wait for Javi to eat. Chucho knew that Steve and Javi had been close, but he couldn’t imagine having so much to talk about on the phone for this long. 

Finally, as Chucho was washing up his dishes in the sink, Javi came in and hung up the phone. Normally Chucho wouldn’t have said anything, but this time he couldn’t resist asking, “Everything OK with your partner?” 

Javi smiled faintly. “He’s making me an uncle again in the spring.” 

“That’s a nice thing,” Chucho said. He hadn’t had any idea that Javi considered himself an uncle to Steve’s children. It surprised him quite a bit. 

“Due in March. He’s thinking of coming down to visit sometime later in the spring to show the new kid off.” 

Chucho was glad to see the amusement in Javi’s eyes. “That would be good. Did you tell him they are always welcome to come here?” 

“Actually I did, Dad.” 

Chucho nodded, but he wondered if that meant that Javi was planning to stick around until spring. He guessed though that even if Javi decided to take the position in San Antonio, he could still come back home for the weekend. If they did come, he’d have to get Rose Cook to come clean the house, if she still did that. She’d been threatening to quit housecleaning and get a “real job” for years. Chucho was fine with the basics, but the house needed a good going-over. In fact, he should have Rose come whether Steve’s family came or not. 

“I’d like to meet Steve,” he said. 

“You’d like him,” Javi said, sticking the plate that Chucho had made up for him into the microwave. “You two have a lot in common.” 

“Is that right?” 

Javi nodded but didn’t elaborate, watching the plate rotate inside the microwave. 

Chucho gave up and went back to washing dishes. Javi ate in silence, then dropped his dish and utensils into Chucho’s soapy water. “Thanks, Pop.” 

Chucho watched Javi grab his cigarettes and head back out to the veranda. That boy had something on his mind. 

He was still out back smoking when Chucho went to bed. 

  


  


  


Sunday afternoon Javi was in the parking lot at Luis’s again and walked in with Chucho to lunch with the crew. But he did not pour on the charm this time and was actually pretty quiet while Chucho’s friends laughed and reminisced. And to Chucho’s surprise, Ginny seemed relaxed and friendly with Javi. When Javi took the checks up to the register, he said something that made Ginny smile (no blushing). She said something back that brought out his lopsided grin. She handed him Manny’s takeout to give to Chucho, still smiling. What had happened this week to change things? Had they met up? Ashley hadn’t reported anything—not that Chucho would encourage her to spy on her mom—but then again, he thought, Ashley was at school all day. And Javi had gone into town Friday afternoon. Well, well. This was progress, surely? 

  


  


  


The tanker or river water came early Monday, and Javi and Churcho were busy storing and hauling for the better part of the morning. The day was very hot and windy, and all the dust kicked up by the tanker didn’t help matters. Javi went to the house at midday and came back out with sandwiches and drinks for them both. 

“Thanks, Son,” Chucho said, as Javi handed him the food and set the cooler down in the shade. “You make a mean sandwich.” It was pretty much the only thing he did make, other than coffee, so Chucho thought he might as well encourage it. 

“Right,” Javi said. He was hardly listening, Chucho could tell. Something was on his mind again. Chucho sat down on a bench in the shed, pushed back his hat, and took a long swig of water from the thermos. He was pretty used to eating in silence. 

“Pop?” Javi said finally. 

“Yeah?” 

“Tuesdays, starting tomorrow, I’m going to be cutting out early, after lunch sometime. Driving to San Antonio.” He was fiddling with some of the tools on the work table. He picked up the soldering iron, put it back down, switched out the bits on the drill. 

“All right.” Chucho wasn’t going to say anything more and risk exasperating Javi with a lot of questions. 

The strategy seemed to pay off when Javi added after a long pause, “There’s a guy there, a shrink. Specializes in helping veterans, DEA, FBI, that kind of thing. He was recommended to me. So we’re going to talk, see how it goes.” 

Chucho’s heart leaped, but “OK” was all he said. He took a bite of his sandwich and hoped Javi didn’t see his hands trembling. 

“Thought you’d like to know.” 

Chucho nodded, not trusting his voice. 

  


  


  


No sooner had Chucho gone inside for supper the following day than a big rumble of thunder rattled the windows of the house. Chucho looked out the window over the sink, and sure enough, dark clouds had suddenly rolled in. Threatening clouds. 

He walked into the living room to watch the local news at 6. The weatherman came on to say that severe storms were expected throughout the evening, a line stretching from here to San Antonio. He hoped Javi would get home OK. A crack of thunder shook the house again, and Chucho remembered he’d left the windows down on the truck. He hurried out to rectify that and finished rolling them up just as the first fat drops fell. Soon it was coming down in sheets, the first good rain since the beginning of August. Chucho stood on the porch and closed his eyes in thanks.

  


  


  



	7. Chapter 7

The next morning as they filled their coffee cups, Chucho asked Javi if the rain had slowed him down at all last night. 

“Not really,” Javi said as he tucked away his cigarettes for the day. “It didn’t start till after I got there and it was over by the time I left.” 

Chucho nodded, waiting for more, but Javi had nothing to add. Chucho would have liked to hear his impressions about this therapist or doctor or whatever, to find out what kinds of things they’d talked about, but… Well, this was Javi. 

“Let me guess: we’re checking the fences today after the storm?” 

“Someone’s got to do it,” Chucho said. 

“That’s how life works,” Javi finished for him. “Right. Let’s go.” 

  


  


  


Late the next afternoon, a gentle shower passed over, then turned into a downpour. Javi and Chucho pulled up to the house in the pickup just in time to see Ashley wheeling her bike up onto the porch out of the rain. 

“Well, hello, Ashley,” Chucho said as she leaned the bike against the wall of the house. “Nice to see you. You came on your bike? That’s OK with your mom?” 

“Yeah, Mom said I can if it’s OK with you, and if I stick to the back roads and call when I get here,” she said. “Is it OK if I come after school sometimes?” 

“That should be all right, but we’re usually out working at this time of day,” Chucho said. “You caught us coming in for an early supper today because of the rain. Would you like to stay?” 

“Yes, thank you,” she said. “Mom has class tonight so I’d be eating a microwave dinner or a boring sandwich.” 

She called and left a message on the machine at home. “Want to help me peel potatoes?” Chucho asked when she’d finished, pointing with the peeler to the pile of them on the counter. 

“Actually,” Ashley said, putting her hands on her hips, “I’ve come to talk to Señor Peña Junior.” 

“Here I am,” Javi said, coming into the kitchen after his shower, still pulling a clean shirt into place. “What do you need to talk to me about?” 

Ashley turned to him, looking severe. She reminded Chucho of a small terrier facing off against a coyote, its front legs braced, and barking, ready to protect at all costs. 

“So when you asked Mom out and then said it was her choice what you guys could do, I got the impression you didn’t much like her answer.” 

“Have a seat, Ashley,” Javi said, gesturing to the kitchen table. Ashley was no match for Javi, no matter how feisty she was, and Chucho hoped he’d be kind to her. 

She sat rather stiffly. “Didn’t you have line dancing in Colombia?” 

“Not that kind,” Javi said, smiling slightly. 

Chucho turned his attention to the potatoes, pretending he couldn’t hear the conversation going on ten feet away. So Javi wanted to date Ginny? This was moving things right along…or at least he thought it was. 

“Well, here’s the thing,” Ashley said. “Mom loves it, and since you asked her out, you owe it to her to make sure she has a good time. So how is she going to have fun if you don’t know any of the moves and stand around being grumpy?” 

Chucho industriously peeled another potato. 

“So how do you suggest we solve this problem, Ashley?” Javi asked. 

She pulled her backpack off and rummaged inside it. She laid out four CD cases on the table. “I suggest that you let me teach you to line dance, Señor Peña Junior.” 

Chucho glanced over to see Javi look from Ashley to the CDs and back again. Silence stretched out. 

“I think,” Javi said finally, “that you better start calling me Javi if we’re going to make a deal.” 

Ashley held out her hand. “Deal, Javi?” 

“Deal, Ashley.” Javi shook her hand gravely. 

Ashely stood, all business. “Señor Peña, do you mind if I skip out on helping with the potatoes?” 

“No, you go right ahead,” Chucho said. He just hoped they weren’t going too far away to practice because he didn’t want to miss this. 

He was in luck. They moved into the living room, which Chucho could see from the sink, and pushed the couch and coffee table back against the wall. Ashley put the CD into Linda’s stereo and then stood with her hands on her hips again. 

“Now, the first thing you need is a big old cowboy hat.” 

“Pass,” said Javi. “Next step.” 

Ashley opened her mouth to argue, but then she saw Chucho shaking his head at her behind Javi’s back, and she shut it. She cleared her throat. “Well, OK. Everyone else will have one though. Mom definitely will. And you can’t line dance barefoot. You need your boots on…. All right. Those will work for now. But you’ll want a little nicer boots, like mine. Not work boots.” 

“OK.” 

“Now. First we’re going to learn the heel dig. See, do this with your foot. Good. Now do a double one. Good. Now try the Charleston, like this….”

Chucho put the potatoes on to boil and fried the bacon and chopped the onion, and they had worked their way up to practicing grapevining. As Chucho mixed in the cheese and seasoning, she was teaching Javi various box steps. When he put the dish into the oven, he finally heard the first song come on. It sounded familiar. He had seen this done at weddings and various social functions but as an older man had never been called upon to participate. 

“No, now watermelon crawl! Watermelon crawl, Javi! It’s okay, I didn’t explain that one very well. We’ll go over it again.” 

Chucho put the plates and silverware on the table. Ashley and Javi were both being very patient about all this. 

“Look, Señor Peña! We’re slappin’ leather!” 

“Looks good,” he called, but he didn’t go in, in case Ashley should decide to recruit him also. 

“OK, now we’re going to turn while we do it—whoa, be careful, Javi! At least there won’t be any rugs on a real dance floor.” 

The timer dinged, and Chucho saw Javi turn toward the kitchen with a relieved look on his face. 

  


  


  


After supper there were more lessons. Chucho, washing dishes with an eye on the living room, was definitely confused about what was what and which foot went where, but Javi seemed to be hanging in there. It was long after dark though when Ashley considered them done for the day. “That was pretty good for such a short amount of time, Javi,” Ashley told him, tucking her CDs away in her backpack. 

“So what do you think, Teach—do I need more lessons?” Javi asked as he picked up his keys. 

“I’m afraid so,” she said gravely. “Mom has to work tomorrow, so I could come over again…”

“OK. I’ll be here. About four? If Pop will let me out of work early.” Javi shot Chucho a look he couldn’t read. If he was asking for help, he should have asked nicer. 

“Of course I will, for such a worthy cause.” 

Ashley giggled and Javi shook his head at his dad. 

“OK. Let’s get your bike loaded up and get you home. You haven’t done any of your homework yet, I take it.” 

“Oh, it’s easy, shouldn’t take too long. Besides some reading for English, I have Intro to Algebra, but it’s only six problems and the formula is pretty simple. OK, bye, Señor Peña!” She followed Javi out the door but turned to wink at Chucho before she closed it behind her. 

Cheeky little devil... 

Chucho sure did like that kid. 

  


  


  


Sunday after church, Javi didn’t come to lunch, but Chucho’s crew still had plenty to talk about without him. Chucho was hoping Ginny would look happy, and she did seem to. Had the extra lessons on Friday paid off? He hated to admit it, but he was very curious about how the date on Saturday had gone. But Ginny wasn’t giving any hints except that it didn’t seem to have been too awful, and he certainly wasn’t going to ask her in front of everyone…

After delivering Ginny’s takeout box to Manny, Chucho drove home. He had sworn to himself when Javi came to live with him again that he wouldn’t keep tabs on his son—he was a grown man who deserved his privacy. But that didn’t stop him, when Javi came home hours later, from asking how everything went with the line dancing. 

“Better than expected,” Javi said, passing through the living room on the way to his bedroom, where he closed the door. 

And that was all the information Chucho got. 

He turned the volume back up on the football game and reflected on the steely determination that Ashley claimed characterized the Peñas. Chucho was pretty sure if someone put Javi on the rack, he wouldn’t breathe a word about his personal life, even to his pop. 

  


  


  


Tuesday afternoon Ashley rolled out to the shed on her bike to find Chucho repairing a hitch pin at the work table. 

“Hey, Señor Peña!” 

“Hi, Ashley,” Chucho said, pushing the welding shield up onto his forehead. “Did you call your mom at the house?” 

“Yep. Where’s Javi?” 

“He had a meeting in San Antonio.” 

“Oh. Well, it’s kind of good because I can finally give you a report on the big date.” 

“Ashley, you don’t have to do that.” 

“Yes, I do, because I don’t want to tell Tricia, who’s the world’s biggest blabbermouth. She tells everything to _Michael._ And like I said before, I have to tell someone.” 

“Well, OK.” 

“So Mom spent a ton of time getting ready, right? She changed her jeans three times and asked which ones made her butt look the nicest. For pete’s sake, Señor Peña. I love her but sometimes she is so embarrassing. I told her to wear the ones that worked the best for dancing.” She rolled her eyes. 

“Anyway. She did up her hair and then realized it looked funny with the hat so she took it all down at the last minute and Javi came and she made me go out and answer the door because she wasn’t ready yet. He looked really sharp, by the way, did you see him before he left? He had on a nice vest with his shirt and a big ole buckle on his belt and he looked ready to boot scoot.” She giggled. “Since Mom was taking _forever_ , we did a quick last-minute review and I think he was good to go.” 

“It was really kind of you to teach him.” 

“Well, to be honest, I had to do something. It looked like the whole dating thing was going to go south before it even started. And Mom hasn’t been excited about dating anyone in a really long time like she is about Javi and I wanted to help them both out.” 

“I’m proud of you, Ashley. It was a good thing to do.” 

Her dimples peeped out. “Well, thanks, but you know I have an exterior motive.” 

“Ulterior?” 

“Yes, that. If things work out with him and Mom, I’ll have a real family.” 

Chucho put down the hitch pin. He went over and put his arm around her. _“Mija…”_

“I know. It would hurt Mom’s feelings if she heard me say that,” Ashley said, wiping away a tear that had dribbled down her cheek. “But if I had Javi for a dad, then you could be my grandpa for real.” 

Chucho gave her shoulders a squeeze and went back to the worktable. “You keep using the word _real._ But what I think you mean is _official._ ” 

Ashley sat down on the bench, paused, and mulled the words over. “I guess you’re right, Señor Peña.” 

“I already consider myself your honorary grandpa.” 

A big smile grew on her face. “ _Honorary._ That’s a great word.” 

“Yes. You don’t need Javi to have an honorary grandpa.” 

She nodded, tears shimmering in her eyes. “OK. And I can be your honorary granddaughter?” 

“I would be honored, Ashley. It’s right there in the word.” 

“OK.” 

He was quiet for a while, adjusting the pin, to allow her time to get ahold of her emotions. Finally she said, without much more than a quaver in her voice, “So anyway. Mom _eventually_ came out and she did look good, a lot cuter than when she had her hair up. Javi said she looked nice too, although I can’t remember exactly what he said. Which is a shame, because it made her light up like a Christmas tree and I’d like to use it on her sometime when she’s sad, but it probably wouldn’t have the same effect. 

“So then they went. I’m afraid I was asleep by the time Mom came home even though I drank a coke which I’m not supposed to and tried to stay awake. Oh, and also since I am ‘too young’”—air quotes again—“to stay out past nine, I had to come home early from trick-or-treat—even though _all_ my friends were allowed to stay out later, and we dressed up as the Backstreet Boys, and how can you have them without Nick, I’d like to know? I bet they looked pretty dumb with only four—and I decided to celebrate my own way so I watched a horror movie no matter what Mom said that had this dumb doll but it wasn’t scary at all. And I still fell asleep before she got home. So. Anyway. Mom gave me a quick recap of the date when she took me to church on the way to work in the morning. She said she was very surprised to find that Javi knew the basic moves—so I guess he didn’t give me away—and though he messed up quite a bit, it was even more fun that way because they laughed like crazy, and she got the impression that he doesn’t laugh a lot. Which, now that I think about it, is true. Why doesn’t he?” 

Chucho didn’t know the answer to that. Slowly he took off his welding mask and gloves. “I guess he had a rough time of it in Colombia, Ashley. It was dangerous and a lot of his friends were killed.” 

Her eyes widened. “I never thought of that.” She bit her lip. “I guess he sacrificed a lot, huh? Maybe people should thank him more for that.” 

“I think he sacrificed a lot, but I don’t think he wants to be thanked for it. I’ll be honest, Ashley—I don’t know Javi that well anymore, even if he is my son.” 

This time it was Ashley who hugged him. 

“Thank you, Ashley. Now. Here’s my nosy question. Are they going out again?” They walked out of the shed toward the tractor to try the pin out. 

“She didn’t say. But he called her last night pretty late and they talked a long time, like still talking when I conked out. So I guess so, but I don’t know when.” 

Chucho hoped for Javi’s sake it was going to be something easier on his pride, like taking Ginny out to a nice restaurant. He was pretty sure Javi had that kind of thing down pat. On the other hand, it might be good for Javi to have to stay on his toes. And Ginny, in Chucho’s opinion, was just the girl to keep him there.

  


  



	8. Chapter 8

On Thursday Tony finally brought the combine to harvest the corn. Tony, Chucho, and Carlo had put down equal shares to buy it years ago, but Tony had charge of its housing and schedule. And they were pretty far behind—though this year, with the cobs and stalks stunted and the leaves rolled for lack of rain, the crop wasn’t going to yield much anyway. 

“I’m sorry, Chucho,” Tony said, climbing down from the cab after he’d brought it to a stop by the barn. “Just one thing after another. It seems like this baby breaks down every ten minutes.” 

“That’s the way it usually goes,” Chucho said. He watched as Tony’s wife, Wendy, followed him up the lane in her pickup, leaving a trail of dust in her wake. 

When Wendy had stopped in the barnyard, she hopped out and handed Chucho a wooden bushel basket. “Payback,” she said with a grin. 

What was inside brought a chuckle to his lips. Every year in her huge garden, Linda had insisted on planting enough zucchini to feed the entire population of Hebbronville. She would inflict the excess vegetables on all their friends and neighbors until they were sick of the sight of her coming. 

Tony was laughing too. “She’s been nursing those things along, watering them and singing to them and I don’t know what all, just to have these late bloomers to give you today.” He shook his head while Wendy grinned. 

But Chucho appreciated it. There was no garden without Linda and he wasn’t going to complain about fresh produce. 

“Where’s Javi?” Wendy asked. 

“Checking the fence. All that wind last night… He’ll be over when he’s finished.” At least Chucho hoped he would. Last time he’d gone down by the river, Chucho had driven up to find Javi not fixing the fence but standing staring out at the armed boats again. It was unsettling for an old man who didn’t want his son going back into that war. 

Tony nodded. “Let’s get started then.” But when Tony started the machine up again, an ear-splitting whine accompanied the sound of the engine. Tony turned it off. “Here we go again.” 

“We’ll figure it out,” Chucho said. Between the three of them, and a length of baler twine, six rubber gaskets and washers of various sizes, a threaded clamp, and various other odds and ends, they did, and though they were still adjusting it, it was harvesting by the time Javi returned, and Wendy and Tony headed on home. 

By Saturday evening Chucho’s relatively small fields were finished, and when he and Javi came in hot and sweaty at the end of the day, the light was blinking on the answering machine. While Javi got in the shower, Chucho pushed the play button. 

_“Hi, guys, it’s Ginny. This message is for Javi—sorry, I tried your cell but the voice mail kept kicking me out. Ashley’s got the flu or some kind of virus or something, and she’s pretty sick, so I think I should stay with her. I’m sorry.… Can you call me back when you get a chance? Thanks. Bye.”_

So. They had been planning to go out again. A satisfied smile grew but was checked when he remembered Ashley was sick. In his experience, kids bounced back pretty fast from that kind of thing, but still. He hoped she’d be okay. 

“Message for you on the machine,” he told Javi as they passed in the hallway by the bathroom. With the recent rains, they no longer had to space out their showers and laundry, though the drought was far from over. 

When Chucho finished his shower and came back into the kitchen, Javi was poking around in the junk drawer. 

“Don’t you have a deck of cards anywhere, Dad? You and mom used to play all the time.” 

“No one could beat your mom at Slap Jack,” Chucho said, leading the way into the living room and extracting the cards from the drawer in the cabinet. 

“Yes, I remember.” Javi smiled faintly as he followed Chucho back into the kitchen, where Chucho picked up where he’d left off peeling zucchini. Javi rummaged around in the fridge. “Why is this thing suddenly full of lemonade, Dad?” He didn’t comment on the zucchini. Chucho guessed a fridge full of green squash had been a staple of Javi’s childhood. Less so bottles of store-bought sugary drinks. Finally Javi located and pulled out the six-pack of beer he’d stashed in the back. 

“If you’re going over to Ginny’s, you could take one of those bottles for Ashley,” Chucho said. 

“OK,” Javi said. Chucho was surprised Javi had admitted where he was going. “What else do kids like when they’re sick?” 

“Well,” Chucho said, “I guess if she’s got a sore throat she’d probably like popsicles.” 

Javi looked hopefully in the freezer while Chucho smiled to himself. 

“I’m surprised you don’t have those in stock too,” Javi said drily. 

“Not yet,” Chucho replied, eyes on his zucchini. He was going to fry this big one up for supper, and then he’d dig out Linda’s recipe box and make some chocolate zucchini bread for Ashley, if he could find the loaf pans. 

“See you, Pop,” Javi said on the way out the door. 

So. Javi was going over to hang out with Ginny while her kid was sick. No doubt this was new ground for his son. And fairly unselfish, from a certain point of view. This thing with Ginny could be so good for him. 

  


  


  


Ginny was not at work on Sunday afternoon. Poor Ashley must still be sick. After the visit with his crew, Chucho was tempted to drive over to Ginny’s apartment before he went to Manny’s and see if everything was OK, but… Well, one Peña hanging around was probably enough. Maybe he’d just call later. Because he was pretty sure Javi wasn’t going to give him an update. 

He reflected as he drove back to the ranch that he hadn’t noticed as many whiskey bottles in the trash lately. Not that they were gone entirely, of course. But fewer. 

  


  


  


“Hello?” answered a hoarse voice when he called. 

“Ashley? How are you feeling?” 

“Oh, hi, Señor Peña. I still feel pretty rotten, actually. But better than yesterday.” 

“I’m surprised you feel like answering the phone.” 

“Yeah, Mom’s taking a quick walk with Javi so I’m on phone duty until she gets back, although I guess I could let the machine get it.” 

“Is it the flu?” 

“No, I don’t have all the aches and stuff. Who knows. I hope I get to skip at least two days of school though. But here’s the big news: I got the Christmas concert solo! As soon as I heard at the end of the day Friday I felt sick to my stomach and I thought it was nerves but it turned out to be this.” 

“Congratulations, Ashley! I hope I’m invited to the concert.” 

“Definitely. I forget when it is but I’ll let you know.” She broke off to cough. 

“Well, I better let you go, Ashley. I just wanted to check on you.” 

“Thank you. You’re so nice. Javi gets it from you although I’m not sure he has as much niceness in him. Still, he brought me dreamsicles so he is on my good list for sure. He brought pizza and lemonade too last night but I was zonked the whole time and didn’t even know he was here. Good thing because just opening the fridge this morning and smelling the leftover pizza just about made me barf. I’m going to have to stick with dreamsicles for a while.” 

“OK, Ashley. Get well soon. And let me know about that concert.” 

“I will. Thanks for checking on me. See you soon!” 

  


  


  


“Can you believe it, Señor Peña?” Ashley demanded the next day, coasting her bike into the barn where Chucho was parking the tractor after feeding the cows. “After I was sick for two and a half days, Mom was going to make me go to school today. I told her that was completely unjust.” 

“I guess she didn’t want you to miss anything important,” Chucho said, climbing down from the seat. 

Ashley snorted. “Sure. I told her she better let me rest up because I hadn’t eaten anything the whole weekend. Which is true, except for dreamsicles and a little bit of lemonade.” 

“I see you summoned the strength to ride all the way out here.” 

“That’s because I ate a hearty lunch,” she said virtuously. Seeming to sense she was on shaky ground, she rushed on. “Listen to what I heard right after I hung up with you yesterday. Javi and Mom came back from their walk and they were in the hall right outside the door. And Javi said—”

Chucho interrupted. “Maybe I shouldn’t let you tell me all this, Ashley. It doesn’t seem right.” 

“Oh, please, Señor Peña? It’s killing me to keep it to myself. I know you won’t tell anyone.” 

“But Ashley, those are private moments between them. They aren’t meant to be shared with anyone else. Not even you. So then telling me too…”

Ashley’s eyes filled with tears. “But I don’t have anyone else to talk to about this. And sometimes it really worries me. Like, my whole life could change because of this. It’s…it can be scary.” 

Looking at her trembling chin, Chucho knew he didn’t stand a chance of resisting. Besides, it was his own fault for letting her report to him the first time. He had made his bed and now he had to lie in it, no matter how uncomfortable it made him. He would just have to try to discourage her eavesdropping as much as he could. 

_And,_ a small part of him whispered, _you’re not going to get any of this news from Javi…_

He pushed his hat back and rubbed his forehead. “All right, Ashley.” 

Her tears dried instantly. “So they were out in the hall and Javi said, real quiet, _‘When you said kissing me would be the first step on a slippery slope that leads to getting your heart broken…Ginny, I want you to know I would never intentionally hurt you.’_

“And Mom said, _‘I know that, Javi. If I thought that you were that kind of person, I wouldn’t have gone out with you. But it’s the hurt that you don’t intend that I’m worried about.’_

“That’s all I heard. What do you think she means, hurt he doesn’t intend?” 

Chucho sighed. “I’m not sure, Ashley. But Javi…has not always been as careful with people’s feelings as maybe he should be.” 

Ashley pondered this, then she said, “Don’t you think it’s weird that they were talking like that? That serious? They’ve been on like, two dates. And that was straight from a telenovela, which I don’t watch.” 

Chucho shrugged helplessly. “I can’t tell you, Ashley. It’s been a long time since I was on a date. I don’t know the rules anymore.” 

He could tell Ashley’s ears pricked, like a dog’s. “Didn’t you ever date anyone since your wife died?” 

“No.” 

“Why?” 

“She was the only one for me, Ashley, and there will never be anyone else. And that’s OK. I have lots of memories of her that make me happy.” 

“Oh,” she said softly, “that’s so sweet. It’s beautiful. Was she the only girl you dated when you were young?” 

“Sort of. I took a couple of other girls to dances when I was in school, but I was pretty shy. Didn’t like talking to girls, mostly because they scared me.” He grinned. 

“Wow, I’m glad you grew out of _that _,” she said, her dimples appearing. “And you started dating Señora Peña when?” she prompted.__

____

“Well, she was a little bit older than I was so I didn’t know her that well from school. Of course I knew her family—everyone knew everyone’s family back then—and I kind of knew her little sister, who’s younger than I am. And of course I had graduated and was working here with my dad. But one day in church she started sitting next to my family, and then she started talking to me, and then somehow I got up the nerve to ask her out. And then I couldn’t stop.” He smiled, thinking back to the way she’d mesmerized him. 

____

“Tell me all about her. I wish I’d known her. Mom says she was a peach and I’d have loved her as much as she did.” 

____

Chucho had to clear his throat before he could say, “She was wonderful. And she did know you, though you probably don’t remember her. She watched you sometimes when you were little when your mom couldn’t.” 

____

“Really? Was I good?” 

____

“Yes, but you were very busy. Linda was pretty wiped out after babysitting you all morning.” 

____

“Aw, I bet I was bratty and she was too nice to say it. Hey, do you have pictures of her?” 

____

“Yes, lots. I have a whole album too. I can look for it when we go in.” 

____

  


____

  


____

  


____

“Oh, look!” Ashley crowed later, sitting at the kitchen table with a bulging photo album open in front of her. “Here’s mom in her Girl Scout uniform with Señora Peña. What’s she holding up?” 

____

“It’s her badge. She worked really hard to get that. There should be at least one more of your mom in there, if I remember right. These are out of order… Oh, here.” 

____

“Whoa. Check out the knee socks.” 

____

“Your mom had a really hard time with the handcrafts unit. She was a whiz at knitting but she could not figure out macramé. So she came over on her bike after school and Linda worked with her until she mastered it. And she got her badge. Your mom would not give up.” 

____

“I guess some things never change,” Ashley said, flipping the page. “Ooh, Javi looks very handsome here. Was this college graduation?” 

____

Chucho turned the album around and looked at the page. “Yes, looks like it. He was always a good-looking boy. He takes after Linda.” 

____

Ashley giggled. “He looks so _young_ without his mustache.” 

____

“He started growing it pretty soon after that, I think. I guess to look older and tougher.” 

____

“Or maybe to look more like you?” Ashley suggested with a smile. “Oh, more Girl Scout stuff. I can’t believe they made the grownups wear the uniform stuff too, ugh. I bet Señora Peña didn’t want to leave the house in it.” She turned a page. “Wait, I know her. This is that girl whose wedding we went to.” 

____

“Yes, that’s Javi’s youngest cousin, Nita. Her mom is Linda’s baby sister. They live over in Laredo now, or at least Ranza still does.” 

____

Javi came in the kitchen door then. “Oh, hi, Ashley. Back to drink up all our lemonade?” 

____

“Someone has to do the dirty work,” Ashley said. 

____

“What’s that you’ve got there?” 

____

“Photo album. I like the one of you with your sports car. Your hair looked really nice. For the old days, I mean.” 

____

“Ah yes, the Firebird. May it rest in peace. I forgot about this old thing, Dad…Polaroids, even some black and white snaps…”

____

“Ashley wanted to see the pictures of my wedding,” Chucho said. 

____

“I haven’t seen those in ages,” Javi said, flipping back to the beginning. “Tia Ranza was so thin back then. And look at you, Pops. You look scared to death.” 

____

“I was.” 

____

Javi laughed. “And Mom…”

____

“She looks so beautiful,” Ashley said softly. 

____

“She was beautiful,” Javi said. 

____

A tap sounded at the screen door and Ginny came in. “Hi, guys. Thanks for having Ash again. Come on, kid, it’s time to scoot.” 

____

“Hey, you’re in this old photo album, Mom.” 

____

“Really?” 

____

“Yeah. Come here. Look at this one with Señora Peña.” 

____

“Aw, my handcrafts badge! She was so nice to me over that dumb thing. Incredibly patient. I don’t know why she didn’t just kick me to the curb.” 

____

“Here’s another one, Mom.” 

____

“Very attractive knee socks,” said Javi. 

____

Ginny elbowed him, then ignored him. “Oh, Don Chucho. Look.” She pointed to the picture. “It’s the plant hanger.” 

____

Chucho nodded. 

____

Ginny smiled mistily and turned abruptly to Ashley. “OK, Ash, time to go. Don’t you have a history report to write?” 

____

“Yes,” said Ashely on a groan. “All right. I’ll get my bike. Bye, Señor Peña!” 

____

“Wait, Ashley! I have something for you.” Chucho handed her a loaf wrapped in plastic wrap. “Zucchini bread.” 

____

She sniffed it. “Chocolate? Because chocolate totally cancels out the vegetables to my mind. Oh man. I’m ready for dinner. Zucchini bread and the last dreamsicle! Thank you!” 

____

She waved as she headed out, and Javi walked Ginny to the car. Chucho thought he said something about calling her later. 

____

When they had gone, Javi came back into the kitchen. “What’s the story with the plant hanger, Dad?” Javi squinted at the picture in the album. “It looks kind of like that hideous thing Ginny has hanging up in her apartment holding the disco ball.” 

____

“It is. That’s the macramé project Ginny worked so hard on here. When she finished, she gave it to your mom as a gift. It made Linda cry because she knew how much heart and determination Ginny put into it. She kept it all those years, and after she died, I gave it to Ginny to remember her by.” 

____

Javi looked at the photo for a while and then said, “Why didn’t I know about any of this?” 

____

“You were already gone, Javi. You must have been in college then.” 

____

Javi closed the album gently and crossed the room to the refrigerator. “So you just spent your empty-nest years adopting other kids?” He rummaged around inside and pulled out a bottle of lemonade and looked at it. “I guess this answers my question.”

____

  


____

  


____


	9. Chapter 9

There was another afternoon of light showers on Tuesday, barely enough to settle the dust but which probably kept Ashley at home. But on Wednesday, after Chucho had walked up from the pasture, he saw Ashley sitting on the fence of the corral, watching Javi trim Azucar’s hooves. She had been a filly when Javi left for Colombia, and even though he hadn’t been home much even before that, she’d had a special affinity for him. She was older and more docile now than she had been all those years ago, but she was still nuzzling Javi, tugging her tether to the limit, and playfully trying to knock him off balance as he held her front hoof between his knees. 

Chucho stopped short though when he realized Javi was explaining the process to Ashley, showing her how to clean out the hoof with a pick before clipping off the overgrowth. He stepped out of view and watched as Ashley hopped down and Javi let her try her hand with the pick under his supervision. 

Well. Chucho didn’t want to interrupt that. Now would be a good time to haul some water out to the field for the cows. He turned and walked back out to the tractor. By the time he’d returned from that job, Javi was showing Ashley how to saddle Azucar and adjust the cinch straps. He took the saddle off and let Ashley try, but she wasn’t strong enough to heft Chucho’s heavy old saddle up over Azucar’s back. Javi smiled as he said something to her and put it over himself, then adjusted the pad and blanket before stepping back and letting Ashley tighten the straps. Then he showed her how to switch out the halter for the bridle. Chucho stopped pretending he wasn’t watching and came over to the fence. 

Next Javi showed Ashley how to mount a couple of times, and then, before Ashley was going to try, she caught side of Chucho on the other side of the corral and waved vigorously. Chucho could tell Azucar was a little nervous of Ashley, and she sidled when Ashley tried to grab her mane. But Javi went to her head and talked to her until she finally stood still for Ashley’s next attempt. He ended up having to hold the offside stirrup for Ashley until she was able to haul herself over and thump down into the saddle. Chucho could see she was extremely excited and beaming with delight. He was so used to everyone knowing how to ride that he’d forgotten that Ashley had probably never had the chance. 

Javi led them around the corral a few times, but since Azucar tried to break into a very rough trot a couple of times out of pure cussedness, Chucho was glad Javi didn’t let Ashley try to ride by herself. Maybe Azucar wasn’t as docile as Chucho had thought. 

Yet she had no objections, when Javi called a halt to the lesson, to being rubbed down and curried to within an inch of her life by Ashley, as long as Javi was standing there. Chucho finally tore his eyes away from the rapture on Ashley’s face and went inside to cook them supper. 

He was pretty sure Javi the bringer of dreamsicles had been completely eclipsed by Javi the introducer of horses. 

  


  


  


Palominos were the finest breed; palominos were the best horses ever. They were so beautiful. Black Beauty and the Black Stallion were all well and good but white horses gave you more bang for your buck. They were the sweetest too. 

Chucho, seated at the table across from Javi, raised his eyebrows at him. _What have you done, Son?_

Javi raised his too. _What do you expect, Dad? A girl…a horse… It was inevitable._

They smiled at each other and went back to eating as Ashley’s praises flowed on. 

  


  


  


“We should brainstorm a name for Mom and Javi dating, like a code word,” Ashley said. They were sitting at the kitchen table after dinner the next week while Ashley supposedly wrangled her homework. Earlier they had fed Azucar corn cobs as a treat, then they’d walked to the house and gone through teen magazine quizzes. They had discovered that Ashley’s top five dream dates meant she was an Idealistic, while Chucho’s top five (which he had had to be pressed _very_ strongly to describe) meant he was a Stalwart. He was unfortunately disqualified from What Your Jewelry Says About You, but it seemed that while Ashley’s fashion sense was Cute And Trendy But Lacks Sophistication, his was In Desperate Need Of An Update. 

Now Ashley seemed more intent on talking than studying. “It could be a name like a telenovela, which are all superdramatic, like _Queen of the South, Juegos de Fuego,_ and _Chains of Bitterness,_ stuff like that.” Ginny and Javi had gone out again Saturday night, but this time Ashley had no idea where or what their date was about. And neither of them, naturally, had gotten a report. 

Javi’s cell phone, left on the table and plugged into the wall, made a strange blipping noise. He’d taken off for San Antonio without it and they’d had to set the table around it. 

“Well, that’s annoying.” Ashley said, pushing herself up to look at the display screen. “Huh. It just says ‘Fully Charged.’ Weird. I thought you said Javi went to a meeting. Why wouldn’t he take his phone?” 

Chucho had no idea. 

“Oh, wait. That’s not his. His is a Motorola and this is a Nokia. Did he get a new one? Or is this yours?” Ashley looked at Chucho with something like awed respect. 

“No,” said Chucho shortly. 

“Oh,” Ashley said, eyeing him. When he didn’t say anything else, she sat down and went on. “So what do you think? About a code name for Mom and Javi? I could be like, ‘Señor Peña, _Passions and Pitfalls_ has been veeeeeeery interesting lately.’ Or maybe we could call it _Heat and Honey_?” 

“No. No. Ashley, I don’t think so. Let’s just…let’s just leave that for now, OK? I thought we were finding the themes of that poem.” 

Ashley sighed deeply. “Oh, all right, if you want to _work._ ” 

“Yes, we should work. But,” he said, standing and heading for the counter and coming back with a cookie jar, “we need food for thought.” 

  


  


  


A loud noise startled Chucho out of his sleep. He was confused for a moment, then realized it was the phone ringing. His heart sped up. If it was a call at this time of night, it couldn’t be good news. He put on his glasses as the phone shrilled again, and he scooted over onto Linda’s side of the bed to pick up the receiver. 

“Hello?” 

“Pop,” came Javi’s voice, low and husky. 

“Javi, what’s wrong?” Where was he? Oh, it was Tuesday, therapy day. Or rather, Chucho thought, squinting at the digital numbers on the bedside clock, almost Wednesday. 

His son’s voice was soft, as if emotion would spill over if he spoke up. “Nothing’s wrong, I… Well, it was rough today. I’m…I got a room here and I’m going to stay tonight. I just…I didn’t want you to worry.” 

“Thank you for letting me know, Son, but are you all right?” 

“Yeah, I…I just didn’t want to drive all the way back tonight. It’s a lot. Today was a lot. But I’ll see you tomorrow, Pop, OK?” 

“All right, Javi. Take care of yourself.” 

“OK.” _Click._

Chucho put the phone back on its charger. He wondered if every parent who got a call telling them not to worry immediately started worrying more. He folded his glasses and put them on his bedside stand, then lay back down and closed his eyes. What had Javi talked about in therapy that was a lot? Was that doctor helping Javi or making things worse? 

He tried to pray. He tossed and turned for a while and then put on his glasses and looked at the clock. 1:38. He was getting nowhere. 

He got dressed and picked up his keys and hat and got into the truck. He drove into town to the church. The dark, deserted parking lot was disconcerting, but he got out and walked to the door. It wasn’t locked, and Chucho was relieved that this tradition hadn’t changed with the times, though he was sure it would have to soon. Someone someday would come and rob the place or vandalize it, and then there would be no more sanctuary for weary souls in the dead of night. But for now, Chucho walked softly in and genuflected before coming forward, lighting a candle, and slowly getting down on both knees in front of the altar. He crossed himself, and began to pray for Javi once again. 

  


  


  


Chucho went to Thanksgiving dinner at his sister-in-law’s house with a less than thankful heart. The winter wheat was going to be all but a total loss for lack of rain, the final property tax installment was due in a week and he was going to have to take some money out of his modest savings account to pay it all, and Javi was moody and withdrawn. Even more so than usual. Esperanza’s three daughters—all married—always seemed perfectly happy and even from the street he could hear that the house was echoing with children’s voices. To add insult to injury, Ranza looked surprised when they arrived. “But I thought you’d be bringing guests, Javi,” she said. 

Correctly interpreting the look he shot Chucho, she put a hand on Javi’s shoulder before drawing him into the house. “Now, don’t blame your poor father. It’s my fault. The Hebbronville grapevine stretches all the way to Laredo on occasion, and I was stupid enough to listen to it. Never mind. I’m so glad you’re here, Javi. I was a little worried we wouldn’t have any elbow room with two extras, but now we’ll be fine, fine with the kids at their own table…”

Chucho was cheered a little with all the hugs for Tio Chucho and the noise and bustle and getting to hold Nita and Danny’s new baby for the first time—and not having to cook everything himself. But then Javi drove fast and angry all the way home that evening, and Chucho could do nothing but close his eyes and endure until they reached the ranch. He didn’t know why Javi was so full of rage—was it whatever was going on in therapy, or maybe one of his cousins or their husbands had said something?—but it was exhausting and he just wanted a break from it. 

When they got home Javi went to the veranda with his cigarettes and whisky, and Chucho went out in the truck and drove—slowly—for miles alone in the dark. 

  


  


  


Friday morning it was time to work again, and since the next two days were supposed to be sunny, cool, and dry (of course), Chucho planned to paint the shed roof. He took his coffee out and finished it in the sun before he got out the paint cans and brushes and set up the ladder. 

“Hey, Pop,” said Javi’s voice from behind him. Javi was squinting up at the roof through his aviators. “Listen,” he said gently, taking the can from Chucho’s hand, “how about I do this roof stuff? This is for the unskilled labor. I know there have to be about a dozen things around here that need fixing, and you’re better at that than I am.” 

Chucho was too grateful to hear the kind Javi that he’d once known to object. “All right. Thanks.” 

“Pop,” he said as Chucho turned to go, shifting his weight and keeping his eyes on the roof of the shed, “sorry. Lately it’s just been…” He shrugged. “I’m sorry, Dad.” 

Suddenly Chucho was overwhelmed with emotion for his boy. He put a hand on his shoulder. “Javi. I want you to know what whatever is going on, whatever you’re dealing with, whatever you’ve done, whatever you will do—I love you. Nothing’s going to stop that. You’re my son and that’s how it is.” 

He couldn’t see past the aviators too well but Chucho had a feeling Javi’s eyes filled with tears. “OK, Dad,” he said in a stifled voice, still not looking at Chucho’s face. “Thanks. OK.” 

  


  


  


“No date this week,” Ashley reported over the phone Saturday evening. Chucho wondered briefly where Javi had gone then. Maybe a whiskey run. “We just got back. We always do this trip to Austin to visit Mom’s friend Terri from school. She’s nice and her husband’s nice and the kids are cute so I don’t mind staying, even though I have to share a room with Mom. But I really wish Mom didn’t get together every Black Friday with her other high school friends too. They come to Terri’s and rent movies to watch with this one actor they like, I forget his name but he’s old anyway, and they talk and laugh about men for _hours._ People say teenage girls giggle too much but so do women in their thirties. 

“Anyway Terri’s sweet but the other two friends kept bugging Mom to talk about Javi and bugging her and bugging her and I could tell Mom was getting upset and more determined not to say _one thing._ Then they all said they were coming at Christmas to meet him. It sounded like a _threat,_ Señor Peña. I hope they don’t come. Mom’s been kind of sad this week anyway, even though I told her all about Azucar.” Ashley sighed. 

“Holidays can be hard,” Chucho said. As he knew from personal experience. 

“Hey, Señor Peña,” Ashley said quietly. “On Wednesday before vacation Tricia told me something. She said that her mom said that there was a big scandal a long time ago when Javi broke up with a girl right before they were supposed to get married. Like, wedding planned and invitations mailed and everything. Is that true?” 

“I’m afraid so.” 

“Do you think Javi will break Mom’s heart too? I’m worried now.” 

“I don’t know, Ashley. I hope not. I’m praying that he doesn’t—or vice versa—because I really care about them both.” 

He could hear the smile in Ashley’s voice. “Me too, Señor Peña. I’m going to pray for that then too.” 

  


  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, it is probably painfully obvious at this point that I'm not Catholic! Sorry for any inaccuracies, and I wouldn't mind (kind) corrections where I need them!


	10. Chapter 10

It was a beautiful early December day, the sky crystal clear and a particularly deep blue, and the clouds, which were infrequent, a brilliant, fluffy white. The kind of day it was a shame to waste inside the barn restacking the square bales to make room for the load Tony was going to bring over this week to supplement Chucho’s own stock of hay. Instead, that afternoon Chucho decided to finally tackle the mowing between the lane and the fence. It seemed that weeds never needed rain to grow, and they were over knee-high in some places. Javi had taken his Jeep out to the watering pond to try to shore up a spot for the horses to get down to drink without sinking so far into the mud, so Chucho backed the tractor up to the bush hog and got down to hook the mower to the tractor hitch by himself. 

It happened fast. 

He’d lifted the yoke of the bush hog toward the tractor hitch. He’d forgotten to put chocks behind the wheels of the mower—not that he always took the time to do that anyway—and the attachment began to roll forward. Somehow he stumbled, and the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground, partially under the wing of the mower, his left arm pinned, his hat somewhere behind him. 

He looked up at the beautiful sky for a moment, waiting for the dark spots to dissipate and his mind to clear. His mind did clear, but then he became aware of the pain in his arm and shoulder. He attempted to wiggle out from under the machine, but the effort gained him nothing but more pain and a cold sweat breaking out on his brow. 

_Think,_ he ordered himself, but his thoughts didn’t seem to be able to connect to one another. He did try shoving the thing with his right arm, and although it gave slightly, it didn’t move. And the pain in his chest and shoulder that resulted prevented him from trying again. 

_Pray,_ he ordered himself, but instead all he heard was a low groan that seemed to be coming from his own throat. Maybe that was good enough. 

Javi had been right about the cell phone. Javi, who was three-quarters of a mile away on the other side of the ranch. 

The effort to think was too much. He closed his eyes against the dizziness, but then he couldn’t seem to open them again. 

He didn’t know how long it was until he heard something in the distance. The _clickclickclick_ buzzing of ten-speed wheels rolling by the corral, down toward the shed where he was…

“Senor Peña!” Ashley’s voice called. The buzzing slowed. “Senor Peña? Senor Peeeeeeeeña…,” she singsonged. The clicks slackened as she walked the bike toward him. 

“Senor Peña? Javi? Come out, come out, wherever you—” He heard her gasp as the bike crashed to the ground and she came running toward him. 

“Senor Peña?” She was down on her knees beside him, patting his cheeks. Already she was crying and he could feel her tears on his own face. “Are you awake? Can you talk?” 

Somehow her presence roused him. “Ashley. I need your help.” 

“Yes, of course, oh God, oh Jesus, help. What do I do? Do you want me to lift this thing?” 

“No, _mija,_ listen. My truck is right there in the shed. Get the cell phone out of the glove box. Call Javi.” 

“OK. OK. Get the phone. Call Javi. How can I call Javi? He wasn’t there, nobody was at the house.” 

“Ashley. Listen. Call Javi’s cell phone. Speed dial 1.” The argument with Javi was carved into his memory like stone. He didn’t know what “speed dial 1” meant, but she might. 

“OK. OK.” The tears were coming harder. “Speed dial 1. I’ll be right back. Stay awake, OK? I’ll be—” But she was gone, running. 

She was running back, but he couldn’t seem to make his eyes open. But he could hear her sobbing into the phone as she ran. “—Please come. Hurry!” 

_“Ashley, be calm. Try to stay calm and talk to me,”_ said Javi’s voice, distorted and quiet through the phone, but urgent and intense. _“Dad is pinned, you say. Where are you?”_

“By the tractor. By the shed. He’s not awake anymore. Please hurry! I don’t know what to do.” 

_“Is he breathing?_

“Yes, he was talking, he was breathing fast, like a dog panting.” 

_“What is he under, it’s something big?”_

“Yes, yes, a big attachment thing for the tractor, for mowing or plowing or something. It’s just his arm and his shoulder but I think he’s hurt bad. Please come.” 

_“Honey, I’m already on my way. Now listen. Are you listening?”_

“Yes,” she said tearily. 

_“I don’t have Hold on this thing so I’m going to have to hang up with you to call for an ambulance. But here’s what I want you to do until I get there. Go to the truck and get a blanket, a jacket, whatever you can find, and put it over Pop, as much of him as you can reach. Repeat that.”_

“Go to the truck, get a blanket or jacket, and put it on Abuelo.” 

_“Good girl. I’m going to hang up now, but I’m coming, OK? I’ll be there in just a few minutes. You put the blanket on Pop, OK? I’m coming.”_

“OK,” she said. He could hear the dial tone blare, and Ashley gave a wail and burst into a fresh bout of weeping. But then he heard her get up and run. Then warmth enveloped him and a little hand took his right one and held it against a wet cheek. 

He wanted to tell her thank you and it was going to be okay but he couldn’t. He felt himself drifting, floating... 

He heard the Jeep come tearing into the barnyard, gravel flying. Footsteps running. Ashley crying and Javi’s voice, quiet, running together. The terrible weight of the bush hog suddenly lifted. He heard himself moaning with relief. 

“Stay still, Dad. Ambulance is coming. Just lie still. We’re here. We’ve got you. They’re going to come, stabilize everything, get you patched up.” 

Ashley sobbing… “Come here, Ashley, you’re shaking.” The sobs muffled, as against his chest. “Hey. Hey. Honey, it’s going to be OK. We’ll get him to the hospital and they’ll take care of him. He’s a tough old codger. Shhh…”

He drifted again, then heard the siren as the ambulance came closer. Voices trying to talk to him, hands all over him, things tightening around him, tighter, snugger, he couldn’t move… Being lifted, set down gently…

“…coming with us, Mr. Peña?” 

“No.” Javi’s voice, lowered. “I can’t leave Ashley alone. We’ll meet you there.” 

  


  


  


Sirens, lights, darkness, whispers, jolting, more lights. People talking loudly at him, but he couldn’t understand or talk back. Finally peace and quiet. He slept. 

Quiet sobs, feminine ones, reached his ears. He woke. “Linda…?”

“Dad. It’s me, Javi. And Ashley’s here too.” 

“Señor Peña,” Ashley sobbed, clutching his right hand. She and Javi were sitting side by side in armless chairs pulled up to his bedside. Javi had his arm around her shoulders but she was still shaking. Chucho didn’t have his glasses but he could see that much. 

“The mower pinned me?” 

“Yeah, Dad. Messed up your arm pretty bad. They have it immobilized, and you’re on some serious pain meds. They told me you wouldn’t even wake up tonight. They did X-rays and your bones are broken in six places. They’re doing surgery first thing tomorrow to put pins in.” 

“You were right about the phone.” 

“Dad, I don’t give a damn about the phone. It’s you I care about. _We_ care about.” 

With a fresh burst of tears Ashley nodded, curling back in under Javi’s arm. 

Suddenly the door opened, and Ginny rushed into the room. “Oh Ash, oh baby. Are you OK?” She enveloped Ashley in a hug which Javi could hardly help but be a part of. 

“I’m OK, Mom, it’s Señor Peña—his arm is hurt bad and I found him there—”

Somehow Ginny, in the way women had, managed to keep her arm around Ashley and reach out to Chucho too. “Don Chucho…”

“Mom!” Ashley said, her voice rising to hysteria levels, “Mom, I just realized—I didn’t call you, you didn’t know where I was—I’m so sorry, Mom, I didn’t think—”

“Shhh, baby, it’s OK. I found out. I’m here now.” 

“I’m sorry, Ginny, I didn’t think of it either,” Javi said quietly. “I had my phone turned off once we got to the ER.” Chucho saw him reach for the cigarettes in his shirt pocket, remember where he was, and drop his hand. 

“It’s OK, it’s OK. You had bigger things on your mind. Don Chucho, are you all right?” 

“Seems I broke my arm.” He closed his eyes—the effort of keeping them open was too much. He heard Javi’s voice, Ginny’s, Ashley’s, calmer now, coming from in between Ginny and Javi…

“Got your whole family here now, Mr. Peña?” came a cheerful voice some time later, a nurse from Laredo and not from town, Chucho guessed, or he’d know exactly who was who and how they were related…

“Yes,” he whispered, and then there was dark and humming and beeps and more dark…

  


  


  


The silence resolved itself into a quiet, rhythmic beeping. What…? 

His left arm was numb, immobile, heavy. Pain was creeping along the edges of his awareness. 

He thought for a moment he was back at the hospital with Linda, watching the machine blip her heartbeat onto the monitor, watching the IV bag slowly collapse in on itself as the meds oozed into her body to stop the cancer. Or try to. 

He remembered the guilt he’d felt leaving her to go back to the ranch to work, but things had to be done, someone had to do them…and when he’d come back, someone was nearly always with her, whether friends or church ladies and a few times Ginny, her eyes red and puffy from weeping. She would never say anything, just hug him and rush out, probably to make sure young Ashley didn’t come home from school to an empty apartment. Grief came rushing back, threatened to overwhelm him again…

But no. This time he was the one whose heartbeat was blipping onto the monitor. He heard faintly in the hall someone being paged on the loudspeaker. 

The door clicked open, the hall sounds got louder, then clicked shut. A whiff of perfume close to the bed. 

“Sorry to leave you for a minute, Don Chucho, but I _had_ to get a coffee. Ash was up most of the night worried sick about you, and I wasn’t doing so well myself. But once I finally convinced her you would be okay—and reassured her that she didn’t have to go to school today—she dozed off. Though not before I had to swear on a Backstreet Boys album to come home and get her later and bring her back to see you.” 

Chucho wanted to smile but none of that was working at the moment. 

“Javi’s coming back later too. He said something about a tanker of water he has to meet at the ranch? And he has to take care of the cows and whatever. Did you know he was here all night, through the surgery this morning and everything?” 

He heard her take a sip of coffee. “But you already know how much he loves you.” 

She was quiet for a while before she said, “I know your day was pretty horrific yesterday. But when I came home and Ashley wasn’t there and there was no message, I kind of freaked out. I was mad at first that she was so irresponsible, and when I got the machine when I called your house and Javi’s phone sent me straight to voice mail, I got in the car and zoomed over to the ranch ready to read her the riot act. But there was no one at the house…and I guess there usually isn’t but there was an eerie silence. I started to get scared. I walked around calling for anyone to answer, then I drove down to the shed, and I found Ashley’s bike on its side and the door to your truck left open and your hat on the ground and the mower all cockeyed and not lined up with the tractor… It gave me chills. It looked like there had been a big vehicle there in the barnyard because the long grass there by the edge of the fence had been squashed. I grabbed your hat and ran into the house and called Luis, since news always goes to the café first. He said somebody with a scanner said an ambulance was dispatched to the ranch. Well, obviously then it was going to the hospital here in Laredo. The whole way I was running red lights and wondering which one of you three was hurt. I’m sorry it was you, Don Chucho.” 

There was another long silence and then she sighed. “One-way conversations are awkward. But since I talk to myself so much, you’d think I’d be used to it. 

“So did the nurses or anybody tell you what’s going on yet? I know you were pretty woozy, so maybe you don’t remember. Your arm was broken in several places and they had to do surgery on it, put some pins in. If everything goes well, you’ll get to go home tomorrow. But you’ll have to do PT and everything once the cast comes off.” 

This time during the long silence Chucho almost dozed off. He heard the chair squeak beside him. “OK, so you’re asleep, right?” Ginny’s voice said. “Right. So I’m just going to tell you about my very embarrassing secret since it’s killing me here. And I know you’d keep it to yourself anyway even if you were awake. 

“Big surprise: it’s about Javi. So I didn’t really know him growing up of course. I mean, I knew _of_ him, everyone did. He was the epitome of cool when it was still a big deal for me to tie my own shoes. We were not even in the same _orbit._ He was like almost an _adult_ to me, you know? But he had that cool car, and his hair was, like, _legendary._ Even in elementary school we all knew about Javi Peña drag racing out in the flats, and Javi Peña’s hair. 

“So anyway, Javi went to college and then joined up with the DEA, and nobody was surprised, he was that cool. Right around then I was getting to know Doña Linda when she was my leader with Doña Bonita in Girl Scouts, and later on I felt so bad for you all with that big kerfuffle over him breaking Lorraine Madison’s heart. But then you and Doña Linda were so, so kind to me, and I got pretty occupied with marrying Jorge and having Ashley, and then divorcing him, so…

“But here’s the part I’m slowly getting around to. That wedding. Danny and Nita’s. So you remember Ash and me were there? I hadn’t seen Javi in years, except probably at Doña Linda’s funeral and I was kind of a mess then and I don’t remember… But I saw him at the wedding. I mean, we’d already practically had a parade for him here after he took down Escobar, so he was sort of a celebrity. Somebody introduced us and I was kind of giddy about it because, Don Chucho, he seemed just as cool as he was twenty years ago, and I am still pretty much a dork. 

“And then…and then I noticed him look at Lorraine when she’d turned away and he thought no one was looking, and that’s when I saw it. It sounds so lame when I say it, but Don Chucho, I saw into his heart. I saw how much pain was in there. I saw the regret and how hard he is on himself and yet how much he’s trying… For the first time I saw him as a person and not just a cool guy, and it sounds dumb, but I fell for him _so hard._ Like, I was literally standing there staring at him, or where he’d been, and Ash had to come over and take my hand and ask me if I was OK. And I just stammered something because, Don Chucho, it was _bad._ I felt disoriented and confused and like I was falling apart. Like every cliché you have ever heard, like part of me had gone out to him. Like I wanted to comfort him and help him and you know, be with him forever.” 

She made a little embarrassed squeaking noise. “Don Chucho, I am not exaggerating when I said I was falling apart. I don’t think I made sense the rest of the day. I’m lucky I could drive me and Ash home. I went into my room and gave myself a pep talk about being a responsible adult with a child to raise and I should know better at my age and all that. Didn’t make a lick of difference. I sat down and tried to study and all I did was think about Javi’s eyes and how much I wanted to hug him and just make everything better for him. And of course I also knew it was a hopeless case. I’d probably never see him again, and if I did, he wouldn’t even remember me. But it ruined me for dating anyone else—right, like I have guys lining up to ask me out. Well, I mean if I had a line of _decent_ guys. But even if there was, no one could possibly measure up to Javi Peña.” 

She sighed. “That’s why I was so squirrelly about the rumors at first. Because I didn’t think he’d ever be interested in someone like me and it would be so embarrassing if he knew that dumb little Ginny Gutierrez had a crush on him. But Don Chucho, the fact is, I’ve been in love with him since the wedding and it’s kind of pitiful, but there it is.” 

He felt a slight bump on the bed and her voice was muffled, as if she’d put her forehead on the railing at his side. “Don Chucho, I love him so much—although I am not telling him that—and he is hurting so bad. I don’t know what to do. What can I do? He’s known way more beautiful and sophisticated and exotic women than me and I know I’m just a hick girl from a hick town with a lot of baggage. And I know he’s probably leaving soon and dating me is likely just a way to pass the time. I’m trying to keep the guard up on my heart and my dignity intact, though it might be a losing battle. But if I could really help him somehow, I would. Oh, I would.” 

He heard her pull a tissue out of the box near him. “Oh crap,” she muttered. “I think I used the wrong mascara. I bet I have the raccoon look going.” 

A rummaging sound, clicking. Maybe she was digging for something in her purse. 

“Whew, still human. I think Ash got rid of that other stuff. This is how much of a mess I am, Don Chucho. A twelve-year-old has to help me keep my makeup organized. Just what Javi Peña is looking for. Right at the top of his must-have list.” 

She sighed again and took a sip of her coffee. “Ugh. I blabbed so much it’s cold. I’m sorry, Don Chucho, are your ears bleeding? Ash gets her gift of gab from me, and _not_ Jorge ‘Strong and Silent Type’ Gutierrez.” 

He felt her hand on his good one, giving it a pat and then curling loosely around it. He was cold, and her hand felt warm. 

Slowly Chucho became aware that the strange distance he’d felt between himself and what was happening around him had lessened and disappeared. He tried opening his eyes again, and this time it worked. 

He turned his head—taking more of an effort than he’d planned—and sure enough, Ginny sat there smiling at him. She squeezed his hand. “Hey there, Don Chucho. How are you feeling?” 

He tried to speak, but his voice didn’t quite work yet. He managed to mouth “water,” and Ginny picked up the pitcher from the wheeled table and poured some into a cup with a straw. She found the button to elevate the top of the bed a little and then held the straw to his lips. 

“Just sips,” she told him. “The nurse said if you drink too much, you might throw it all up. Anesthesia can make you nauseous.” 

He sipped obediently and finally smiled at her. _“Gracias,”_ he managed to say. Getting some moisture into his mouth helped a lot. 

She put the cup down and took his hand again. “Do you need anything else? Oh, your glasses.” She pulled them out of a drawer and grimaced. “Ugh. Somebody put their fingers all over these. Let’s get them cleaned up.” She fogged them up with her breath and wiped them on her shirt. “Better,” she declared, and gently put them on his face. “How’s your pain level?” 

“It hurts a little—” he began, but when Ginny moved to call the nurse, he stopped her. “Don’t call anyone yet. I just want to be quiet here for a bit.” 

“OK,” she said. 

He closed his eyes again, and when he opened them he turned his head back to Ginny. “So pins in the arm? Anything else going on that I should know about?” 

“They x-rayed your shoulder and ribs, but there’s only bruising. But bruising can be plenty painful too, so it’s going to be rough for a while, Don Chucho.” 

“I guess I got off easy.” 

“I’m so glad you’re OK,” she whispered. 

“Old guys like me are tough as shoe leather.” 

“Right,” she said, shaking her head and smiling. 

“I’m sorry I scared Ashley.” 

“She was so worried about you. We all were. I’m just glad she found you—it seemed like it was pretty soon after it happened.” 

“She’s my hero,” he said, managing a smile. 

“She was a pretty rattled kid.” 

“Javi took care of her.” 

“Yes, he did,” she said softly. He squeezed her hand. She looked away, lips trembling. “You know he’s coming later? He had to—”

“I know. Both of them are coming later.” 

She nodded. She sat quietly for a while, then took a deep breath. “Don Chucho, remember that day that you and Doña Linda came to talk to my mom and dad about kicking me out after I found out I was pregnant? Did you know I was there?” 

“I did, Ginny. I saw you peek out of the curtains in an upstairs window when we went up to the door.” 

She blew out a breath. “I’ll never forget how Doña Linda lit into my mom and dad. I never heard a sermon on Christian love and forgiveness delivered with such…force.” 

Chucho chuckled, even though it hurt. “She was pretty worked up.” 

“But I think it was just making them madder. It wasn’t until you spoke up, in that calm way you have, and said, ‘I hope you will tell Ginny that if she can’t live here, she will always have a home with us. Whether or not she decides to marry that boy.’ I thought maybe you were saying it loud enough so I could hear. And that’s what made them stop and think. They started wondering what people would say about them if you guys took me in after they kicked me out.” 

Chucho remembered how Linda had reamed him out the whole way home about not talking things over with her first. He had pulled the truck up in front of the house and they’d sat there for a moment, not getting out. Then Linda had said, in a small voice, “Actually, _querido,_ I was going to offer the same thing without asking you.” They had burst out laughing, then they’d kissed, and kissed again like a couple of teenagers, and then they’d cried a little bit for Ginny. 

Ginny sighed beside him. “It seemed like a no-brainer at the time to stay with them until I finished school and then marry Jorge before Ashley came. But I often wondered, especially after he left us, what would have happened if Nana and Poppy had still been alive, or what would have happened if I’d gone to stay with you two instead.” 

“Might-have-beens will kill your happiness, Ginny.” 

She nodded. “I know. Oh, do I know.” She sat up straight suddenly. “Your hand is so cold. Let me see if there’s another blanket around here.” She found one tucked in the bottom drawer by the closet and settled it over him. “Is that better?” 

“Lots.” 

She sat again. After a while she said, “You know, I can’t remember if I thanked you and Doña Linda for all you did for me after Mom and Dad’s accident. You went with me to the funeral home…and then with the estate getting sued… You went with me to meet the lawyer and Doña Linda watched Ash while Jorge was at work… Turned out I needed the lawyer again for the divorce, that was handy. But what would I have done without you?” 

“You thanked us about a hundred times.” 

“I have been so crazy determined to make it on my own since then. Like being so set on graduating this year. But I had to drop a class at the beginning of October, what with Tina flaking out and not showing up for work and having to cover her shifts, and the PTO fundraiser I got roped into, and me freaking out since Ja— Since a ton of things were happening. So I guess it’ll be May now.” She sighed again. “But maybe it was a mistake to be so independent, at least for Ash’s sake.” 

“You’re doing the might-have-beens again, Ginny.” 

“I know. And I’m supposed to be comforting _you._ ” 

“Treating me like a friend is comforting me.” 

She squeezed his hand again and stood. “Do you want some more water? And maybe we better call the nurse? I don’t know if you’re getting pain meds in your IV or if you have to swallow them.” 

“Ginny. One more thing. Ashley called me Abuelo yesterday. I don’t know if she realized it, but I wanted to make sure that’s OK with you if she keeps on doing it.” 

“Oh, Don Chucho.” She dropped a kiss on his cheek. “She couldn’t ask for a better one, now could she?”

  


  



	11. Chapter 11

Once the nurse came in, then the doctor, it seemed the peace of the morning was over. The nurse fussed and prodded and made Chucho take some pills, then the doctor arrived and looked at him sternly and began to intone instructions to Ginny as if she were his daughter. She didn’t bother to correct him. Instructions for the cast and sling, instructions about physical therapy once the cast came off, home exercises he’d need to do… Chucho tried to listen but his mind was just so tired. He knew Ginny was paying attention so he let his thoughts wander, to the doctor’s annoyance. 

“No lifting of anything over ten pounds with your good hand, and once the cast comes off, no lifting of anything over twenty aside from what you are instructed during PT.” 

Chucho immediately began to think of what chores that could be done with two arms that weren’t lifting—fixing fence, stringing out water hoses…

“No driving with the cast on—”

So Chucho could drive around on the ranch anyway, he’d been driving since he was ten, so he could manage it with one arm pretty easily, certainly the truck and probably even the stiff old 1030 that would scorn the very idea of power steering …

He couldn’t let the full responsibility of the ranch fall on Javi—it was too much. There should never be that kind of pressure on him while he decided what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. Though Chucho didn’t want him to go to Mexico, and would prefer that he not even go back into the DEA at all, Javi needed to be free to do whatever he wanted… He had already made Javi miss therapy today so he could do Chucho’s job for him. 

“Do you understand, Mr. Peña?” 

Chucho nodded, though he had no idea what the doctor had said. Ginny was looking at him with fond exasperation. 

At that moment Javi walked into Chucho’s room with Ashley. 

“Oh, hello, Mr. Peña,” said the doctor in a much more deferential tone. “I was just giving instructions for your father’s care to him and your wife…”

Javi looked startled and Ginny gave him a blinding smile, and then Ashley created a diversion by running to the bed and throwing herself across it to give Chucho a hug. “Oh, Abuelo, I was so worried about you!” 

He hugged her back as much as he was able and gently maneuvered her into the chair beside the bed so she didn’t put any more weight on his cast. “Hello, _mija._ I was just telling your mom that you’re my hero.” 

Clinging to his good hand, she took a deep breath and launched into a retelling of the previous day’s events, but Chucho could not concentrate, and besides, he did not want to relive that day ever. 

The doctor had shaken Javi’s hand and gone—ignoring Ginny, though probably not intentionally, but still, it made Chucho dislike the man even more. He heard Ginny ask Javi something about sleep. He shook his head and Ginny put her hands on her hips. Javi shrugged and said something else, and then Chucho saw it—the softness in Ginny’s eyes when she looked at Javi. Now that he knew she loved Javi, it was obvious. But probably not to everyone. Probably not to Javi. Chucho had known Ginny a long time. 

“…for saving me a trip and picking up Ash.” 

“I figured she’d be eager to get back…”

Chucho reminded himself it was rude to eavesdrop and tried to focus on Ashley, but his eyelids drooped. The pills must be kicking in because no amount of willpower was making them stay open…

  


  


  


When Chucho woke again it was darker, except for the dimmed lights in the room. The pain in his arm was intense. There was someone in the room with him. “Javi?” 

“Hello, Chucho. I didn’t want to wake you,” the visitor said, stepping up to his bedside. It was someone he knew but the name wouldn’t come…

With relief he recalled it. “Hello, Tommy. Nice of you to come see me.” Tommy Chavez had been in his class at school and was the Hebbronville tax collector. 

“I had a meeting here in Laredo so I thought I’d stop in a minute. Sorry about your accident. Looks like you’ll be up and about soon though.” 

“Well, I plan to,” Chucho said. “I’ll be sending you a check soon since I can still use my right hand at least.” He held it up and flexed it. 

Tommy fingered the hat he was holding. “You must have hit your head in your tumble, Chucho. Your boy brought the money to the office last week, remember?” 

Chucho did not remember because he had not known anything about it to begin with. Bless Javi. What a good son he had. But between paying the last payment and cell phones and whiskey, how was Javi’s money holding out? Chucho didn’t have any idea how much the DEA had paid him, but Chucho certainly wasn’t paying much of anything. God help Javi, what if he wanted to get married? You could not just ask a girl to marry you if you didn’t have an income. 

But he was getting ahead of himself. Javi had a long way to go with whatever was eating at him before he could think about getting married. And it was far too early for Javi to know whether he loved Ginny or not…

Two women came into the room that Chucho recognized from church, and Tommy took his leave. Miss Maria tottered over to him and squeezed his fingers. She had to be ninety if she was a day, and she was one of the best of the tribe of church ladies. No old biddy, this one. Linda had confided to her forty-five years ago that they were having trouble conceiving a child, and she had never breathed a word to a soul, and prayed for Linda and Chucho every day. Maybe it was her prayers that had brought them Javi… The other woman was her granddaughter and she was just reminding Chucho of her name when Ed and Carlo came in, and it didn’t take long with their joking and banter until there was a pain in his head to match the pain in his arm. 

The cheerful nurse from the night before transformed into an avenging angel and cast out the visitors before having Chucho take his pills. Javi walked in just then and the nurse turned his scowl on him too, but Javi didn’t even give the man a second glance. He sat down beside the bed. 

“Did you get any sleep today, Javi?” Chucho asked. His son looked so weary. 

Javi gave a short laugh. “Dad, I’m supposed to be fussing over _you,_ not vice versa. But yes, a little.” He smiled reluctantly. “Ginny insisted.” 

“Good.” Chucho didn’t clarify whether he meant Javi getting sleep or Ginny making Javi take care of himself. He supposed both were good. He closed his eyes as the pills took hold. “You go home tonight and get some more. I’ll be fine. They’re taking good care of me,” he said for the benefit of the nurse, who was still hovering, changing his IV drip. 

“Yes, well, if it’s OK with you, I’m just going to spend a little more time here with my pop first,” Javi said dryly, and Chucho chuckled. Oh, that hurt, but the pills were taking the edge off…

“What pain meds are those?” Javi was asking the nurse, and a whole conversation about what Chucho would have to do or not do once he got home got started again. Chucho drifted off. 

  


  


  


Home at last, blessed relief to be sitting in his own chair with the footrest up, a pillow behind his head and a can of cold Tecate on the table at his side. After what had seemed like an entire day of waiting around for some papers to be signed by some doctor somewhere, Javi had finally been able to bring Chucho home. Now it was evening, and Ginny had brought Ashley over after school to keep Chucho company, but she was very quiet. 

A plethora of casseroles from church ladies had been waiting on the porch when they’d arrived after dark, and Ginny was baking one of them while she divvied up the rest to put in the freezer for meals for two (or three) later on. While she and Javi were occupied in the kitchen (Javi no doubt just watching), Chucho whispered, “Did they tell you not to talk to me, _mija_?”

Ashley came and knelt beside the recliner. “Mom said not to chatter your ear off. She said between the two of us, we’ve already filled your ears full of a week’s worth of words and she didn’t want you getting a headache.” 

Chucho chuckled. “It’s OK, Ashley. I’m feeling better and I have a higher tolerance for words now.” 

She patted his shoulder, encased in a sling, gently. “Can I bring you anything? Javi said you are just going to be on regular old Tylenol from now on out, and I have to say, that sounds pretty weak.” 

“I’m allowed extra-strength, and more often than the bottle says. I’ll be all right. It already hurts less than it did yesterday.” 

She nodded and looked around the room. “When are you going to put up your Christmas decorations?” 

“I don’t usually bother with any of that anymore, Ashley.” 

She turned a shocked face to him. “No tree? Nothing?” 

He shook his head. “Afraid not. Linda always did all that, and I don’t need decorations to celebrate Christmas.” 

She looked thoughtful. “Would you _mind_ if I put them up for you, if I promise to take them down later?” 

“If it would make you happy, _mija,_ you can decorate to your heart’s content. But you’ll have to get the boxes out of the attic for me.” 

“OK. I have practice after school tomorrow for the Christmas concert—you’re still coming next Friday, right?” 

“I wouldn’t miss your solo for anything, Ashley.” 

She beamed. “Good. But I’ll come Saturday and we’ll decorate. We have to listen to Christmas music while we do it,” she said sternly. 

“I understand,” he assured her gravely. 

“What are they talking about in there?” Ashley whispered, jerking her head toward the kitchen. “It’s been, like, hours.” 

It hadn’t been that long, but they could hear Javi and Ginny talking intensely in low voices. 

“I don’t know, Ashley. But if they are going to date seriously, they have a lot to work out.” 

“Do you think they’re dating seriously?” 

Chucho shrugged, only remembering how much that hurt after he’d done it. “Do you like Javi, Ashley?” 

She didn’t answer right away. “Yes. Yes, he’d be a good dad, but… He seems so sad. Mad too sometimes, but mostly sad. I like him a lot, but it kind of scares me. Or, I guess--it worries me.” 

“Me too, Ashley,” Chucho said quietly. 

Ashley patted his shoulder again. 

“You know, Mom is not scared of _anything._ ”

“She seemed a little worried about the gossip.” 

“Yeah. That was because she didn’t want Javi to think she was trying to catch him. But the gossip didn’t stop her, did it?” 

He swallowed. “No, it didn’t, did it?” 

“Please don’t worry, Señor Peña. She’s as brave as a lion and she never gives up.” 

“I’m counting on it,” he said. It came out as a whisper. 

Ashley reached over to take his good hand and held it. 

  


  


  


And Ginny didn’t let the gossip stop her the next day when she drove up to the ranch after dropping Ashley off at school. Javi had already helped Chucho get dressed and gone out to the fields with the tractor and a big round bale of hay for the feeder, and Chucho was sitting in his chair in the living room. 

“Hi, Don Chucho,” she greeted him after tapping perfunctorily on the screen door. “You know you’re going to have to get out of here, right?” 

“Why?” Chucho asked. 

“There’s going to be a ton of people coming here to check on you. A steady stream of well-wishers all day long. Unless you’re up to that—are you up to that?” 

“No,” said Chucho fervently. 

“Then how about we set you up on the back veranda where no one can see you from the lane? You tell me which people are allowed to visit, and I’ll turn all the rest away.” 

She got him situated in a cushioned chair with a blanket if he needed it, as well as the cordless phone, a small cooler of drinks, his Tylenol, a couple of books, and his much-missed hat. She pulled up a few other chairs opposite…and then they heard a car kicking up gravel as it came down the lane. 

“Here we go,” she said. 

And true to her word, and besides Javi coming in to have lunch with him, only Ranza and Nita and the baby, Tony and Wendy, and Father Diaz made it through her guard, and she collected the food offerings no doubt with kindness and grace. _Almost like a daughter-in-law,_ Chucho thought to himself. 

She had left for her work shift by the time Javi came back in for supper to find another casserole bubbling gently in the oven. 

“I think I’ll be ready to try some small jobs outside by Monday,” Chucho said to Javi, pulling the dish out of the oven with an oven mitt on his good hand and putting it on top of the range. He’d noticed that Ginny had done some cleaning while standing guard too—the kitchen floor gleamed. He hadn’t checked yet, but he’d be willing to bet the living room had been dusted to within an inch of its life. 

“Are you sure, Dad?” Javi asked, looking doubtful. 

“I’m sure. One day of sitting around doing nothing but talking and napping was enough for me.” 

Javi raised his eyebrows. “Sounds like you and your crew on Sundays.” 

“And one day per week is plenty,” Chucho said firmly. 

Javi sighed. “All right, Pop. But don’t overdo it, OK? I really don’t want you back in the hospital.” 

Well, he wasn’t going to overdo it. But he doubted his definition of “overdoing it” was the same as Javi’s. Chucho only nodded and dug out a trivet from a drawer to put the hot casserole dish on. That was awkward enough with one hand. He’d just have to remember that everything was going to take two or three times as long as it usually did. Javi had “set” the table by throwing some plates and silverware randomly on top of it, but that would do. 

When they’d finished eating, Chucho covered the casserole dish and put it in the fridge, which, he noticed, was empty of zucchinis. In the freezer he found them transformed, grated and frozen and neatly labeled in freezer bags. What a good girl Ginny was. 

When he’d closed the door and turned around, Javi was squirting some dish detergent into the sink and running some water on top of the dirty supper dishes. Well. What a good boy Javi was too. Chucho thought he’d go take some Tylenol and sit down for a while. It was kind of nice to be the one being taken care of for once. But he wasn’t going to let himself get used to it. 

  


  


  


Though the next morning Javi still had to help Chucho with his shirt because of the cast and sling, Chucho had managed to dress the rest of himself and get the coffee going before Javi even got up. He let Javi go off in the pickup before he walked down to the shed and found some tools that needed sharpening—Chucho could run the whetstone grinder pretty easily with one hand if he was just patient. He had to take some more Tylenol at lunchtime back at the house, but after a short rest and some leftover casserole, there was plenty more to do in the workshop. Some visitors must have come to the house and found no one home because there were some canning jars full of tomatoes, peaches, and homemade pickles sitting on the porch by the door, but only Manny, with the visiting nurse sitting with Bonnie, had made his way down to the shed to visit. All in all, Chucho was pretty pleased with himself. He wasn’t so useless after all. 

  


  


  


“I’m sorry I can’t stay and help today,” Ginny said apologetically to Chucho when she dropped Ashley off Saturday morning. “I have to take Tina’s shifts since she helped me out earlier this week.” 

“We’ll be fine, Mom,” Ashley said, practically shoving Ginny out the door. “Abuelo and I can handle it.” She closed the door firmly and turned to face Chucho. “It is OK if I call you Abuelo, isn’t it?” she asked a little shyly. 

“Of course, _mija._ It’s my honor, remember?” 

“Mine too,” she said, her voice muffled as she swiftly hugged him and turned away, swiping her eyes when she thought he couldn’t see. The hug hadn’t done his arm any good at all, but he wouldn’t have let her know for anything. 

“Now, lead me to those decorations, Abuelo! We need to brighten this place up. It looks like a bachelor pad.” 

“You’re going to help me put all this away after Epiphany, aren’t you?” he asked sternly as they made their way to the attic stairs. Cleaning up was the whole reason he never bothered to decorate in the first place. 

“Of _course_!” floated back to him. 

  


  


  


When Javi came in for lunch, the living room was a wreck of boxes and a half-decorated tree, with the string tinsel Ashley had discovered strewn over every surface (“Do they even _make_ this anymore, Abuelo? It’s so _tacky_ but _cool_!”). Ashley’s Christmas mixtape was playing in the background, which included a lot of loud songs he barely recognized, but now, to Chucho’s surprise, had Elvis crooning “Blue Christmas.” Javi looked like he’d prefer to go back out to the fields, but some cushions and carefully-packed-away blankets in the corner of the attic by the Christmas ornaments had given Chucho an idea. 

He directed Javi out to the shed, where up in the loft Javi unearthed the porch swing Chucho had stored away soon after Linda died. Now it was going to get lots of new use if Chucho had anything to say about it. Javi refused to let Chucho carry anything but the chains that would hang it from the hooks on the porch ceiling. Once it was hung, Javi stood back and actually smiled. “I remember trying to get this thing to swing fast enough and high enough that I could touch the ceiling with my feet. Never worked.” 

“So you had to resort to the Firebird to quench your need for speed?” 

Javi winked and went back out to the pickup. Chucho shook his head, looking after him, remembering all the nights he had sat up waiting for Javi to come home, worrying over whether his son had wrecked that car…

When Javi was out of sight, Chucho went back inside the house, picking his way around Ashley (humming “Deck the Halls”) and her boxes to the cushions Linda had packed away with sweet and spicy-smelling sachets the summer before she’d died. He carried them one by one to the porch, then brought the down-filled comforter and homemade quilt to pile on top. He stood back to admire his handiwork as the memories came flooding back. 

When he and Linda had first been married, his father had still been alive and of course living here. Chucho and Linda had spent many an evening after dark cuddled together on this very porch swing, their own private sitting room, dreaming dreams and whispering the sweetest of nothings. The Love Nest, Linda had called it, with a twinkle in her eye, and sometimes a spark of something more. 

Now, maybe, another couple could find a quiet place to be alone to make their plans…

Ashley had slipped out of the house and come to stand beside him. She stood looking at it in silence and, as she so often did, seemed to read his mind. 

“Do you think if we put a sprig of mistletoe above it, it would be too obvious?” she asked. 

Chucho chuckled. “Probably. But maybe a couple of nice candles…”

“Yes!” Ashley dived back into the house and came out with two large jar candles that had been sitting on the mantel in the living room for years. She put them on the table near the swing and added a small box of matches. “Perfect.” 

They smiled at each other and then went back into the house. 

  


  


  


By evening, the boxes (and tinsel) were cleaned up and put away. Once supper was over, Ashley and Chucho were going to tackle the _Nacimiento._ To be honest, Chucho was pretty tired (pain kept him up at night, though he was not admitting that to anyone), but Ashley would likely do most of the work anyway. 

Just as they had sat down to eat, a knock sounded at the kitchen door and Ginny came in. 

“Oh, guys, I’m sorry to interrupt. Our dinner rush was nonexistent and Luis said I could leave early, so I’m here to grab Ash.” 

Chucho could see Ashley was taking a deep breath to begin a long and loud protest, so he said quickly, “Sit down and eat with us, Ginny. As you know firsthand, there’s plenty.” 

Ginny laughed and sat down in the chair Javi had pulled out next to him. Chucho noticed that he kept his arm along the back of it. 

“Oh, thank you. It feels good to sit. So what are we having tonight--the chicken and broccoli or that interesting-looking one with water chestnuts and cracker crumbs on top?” 

Ashley answered, and the meal passed with chatter that warmed Chucho’s heart. After eating alone so often lately, this was a change he could heartily embrace. It did not escape his notice that Ginny pulled her chair closer to Javi as the meal progressed, and Javi spent a lot of time looking at Ginny…

“Don Chucho, you seem tired,” Ginny said quietly when everyone had finished. “Are you all right? Do you want to go sit in the living room? I’ll clean up here.” 

“ _We_ can clean up,” Javi said, already standing with their empty plates. 

Well, well. 

“I think I will. Ashley, you can help me open up the _Nacimiento_ boxes.” 

She immediately took the hint and left Javi and Ginny in the kitchen together. 

“Smooth,” she whispered, her dimples peeping out. 

They opened the first box and Ashley gasped. “Abuelo! This is gorgeous! Is this all handmade?” 

“Yes. My own abuelo carved the pieces and my abuela painted them.” 

“I had no idea! And there are so many! It’s a whole village! Look at this burro—oh, I love him! I’m naming him Diego. And this cat! And the kittens! And the sheep!” Ashley unpacked the entire box, exclaiming over each piece. Meanwhile, Chucho put the empty box between the fireplace and the Christmas tree and set the shell of the stable, housed in a cave festooned with intricately painted flowers, on top of it. 

Ashley set the manger inside, then dug out Mary and Joseph. “I suppose Baby Jesus has to wait to arrive until Christmas Eve?” 

“Yes. But everything else can go in.” 

Chucho didn’t object while Ashley reenacted the entire Christmas story with the figures, complete with the Annunciation (the angel Gabriel was Chucho’s personal favorite) and King Herod and Magi and shepherds and all the extra animals, because when Javi and Ginny finished the dishes, they walked outside with their jackets onto the porch. He and Ashley smiled at each other, and Ashley began to sing Christmas carols as they finished setting up the nativity village.

  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, the simpler days before HIPAA…


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains mention of abuse.

Sunday morning Javi drove Chucho to church, then picked him up afterwards and went with him to Luis’s for lunch. Chucho enjoyed the chatter—and watching all the nonverbals between Javi and Ginny—but he had to admit this outing might have been too much too soon. He’d hoped that making a public appearance would ward off the visitors to the house, but if it didn’t, he wasn’t sure it had been worth it. 

Javi took the takeout meal to Manny’s door himself, and when they got home Javi wordlessly brought him a cold beer once he’d settled into his chair. Chucho gratefully used it to swallow the Tylenol he should have taken a couple of hours ago. Then Javi brought Chucho his pillow, and truth be told, Chucho only saw about five minutes of the game before he was out for a long, long nap. 

The following week seemed to last forever, because although the pain at night lessened and Chucho got more uninterrupted sleep, the weather was gloomy. Intermittent drizzle kept Chucho doing nothing more than puttering around the workshop in the shed, and also did nothing to alleviate the drought. And it kept Ashley at home and Ginny studying for finals, so Chucho had to make do with a phone call or two from Ashley. Tuesday night was especially hard, with Javi in San Antonio again for counseling while Chucho sat home alone. He was glad he’d let Ashley decorate, because lighting up the Christmas tree did cheer him up a lot. Javi drove him into town on Wednesday for a follow-up with Chucho’s own doctor, who said things were progressing nicely with his arm. “But,” he said, narrowing his eyes at Chucho, “don’t overdo it.” He _had_ been Chucho’s doctor for twenty years and he knew him pretty well. 

Friday evening arrived, and Javi and Chucho drove into town, where Javi made a stop at the market before heading to the school for the Christmas concert. “Hold these, Dad, would you?” Javi said when he came back, thrusting a bunch of flowers in a plastic protector into Chucho’s hand as he got into the car. “They’re from both of us,” Javi said, checking the mirrors and putting the Jeep into gear. 

It would never have occurred to Chucho to buy flowers for a schoolgirl, but apparently Javi knew what was what. The grateful and glowing look Ginny gave Javi when they met her in the lobby and she saw the gift said it all. 

Chucho impatiently waited for the other groups to finish so they could get to Ashley’s solo. It was the last song of the chorus’s set. Ashley’s voice was a little tremulous at first—nerves, poor kid!—but she ended very well. He gave her a standing ovation—he couldn’t even clap very well with the cast but he didn’t need two hands to whistle. Ashley grinned at him and gave him a little wave from the stage. 

But afterwards Chucho got a bit of a shock. As they stood around chatting in the lobby, Manny came to join them, and with him the boy Manny reminded them was Miles, his grandson. And there was no mistaking that Miles found Ashley very interesting indeed. It wasn’t clear what Ashley thought (she had never mentioned Miles, had she?). She seemed to be nothing but friendly, but seeing her standing there looking so pretty in her dress and holding the bouquet of flowers, Chucho felt vaguely anxious. Boy bands seemed pretty harmless, but real boys? Chucho was definitely not ready for real boys yet. 

  


  


  


Ashley didn’t mention Miles when she called Sunday afternoon, waking Chucho up from a nap. “For their date, they just went to Mom’s Christmas party for work last night,” she reported. “They actually close the café and have a caterer come in. Isn’t that hilarious? I guess Luis gets sick of his own cooking. I know I would get sick of mine if I had to cook every day. Ugh. I guess if I get married I will have to find a man who can cook or else I will starve. It’s a good thing Mom can cook because I have noticed that Javi does _not._ Hey, speaking of Javi, guess what? When they get back from Christmas shopping, Javi’s going to drive us over to Laredo tonight to see that big Christmas lights display thing they have by the courthouse. Have you seen it? It’s humongous. The lights are all coordinated with music. It’s pretty cool, or at least it was a few years ago when Mom and I went to see it. It’s supposed to be even better now. 

“Anyway, speaking of Christmas, my present from my dad came in the mail. You won’t believe what he sent me. Guess.” 

“Socks?” Chucho suggested. He wouldn’t put it past Jorge Gutierrez. 

“No. Close, though. A My Little Pony playset. Can you believe it? Like I’m five years old.” 

“Hmm,” said Chucho, who had recently witnessed her playing for a very long time with Diego the burro and the _Nacimiento_ village. 

“Yeah. I know. So when I write my Christmas letter to him like Mom always makes me do, I’m going to tell him that Javi lets me ride a real horse.” 

Uh-oh. Well, Chucho would let Ginny handle that. But it reminded him that maybe he should get Ashley a present this year. “What would you rather have gotten?” 

“ _Not_ baby stuff, I can tell you that. A Walkman, maybe? I’m like the only kid in my grade who doesn’t have one.” 

Chucho didn’t want to ask too many questions in case she got suspicious, but he dug around in the drawer by the chair and found a pen and paper to write down “Walkman.” Maybe Javi would know what that was and how much it would cost. 

“Yeah, Mom always says she doesn’t want me having my ears plugged up and pretending I can’t hear her when she asks me to do something.” 

Or maybe he wouldn’t get her that Walkman thing. 

“Hey, did Javi say anything to you about doing Christmas with us? I asked him what you guys were doing but I don’t know if he got the hint.” 

“He didn’t, but I’m afraid I usually go to my sister-in-law’s house for Christmas Eve.” 

“That’s what Javi said, but I mean for Christmas Day. It’s just that Mom… Well, after we open our presents Christmas morning, it’s kind of…sad. Empty. Sometimes Mom goes into her room and cries. She thinks I don’t know but I do.” 

Ah, poor Ginny. Since Linda had died, Chucho found Christmas Day hard without her, but he’d never cried over it. He was used to Javi not being home too. He usually just ate the leftovers Ranza sent home with him, then went out and did the work the ranch needed and didn’t think too much about it. But this year…this year it was going to be a _nice_ Christmas. 

“Well, _mija,_ I’m inviting you both. Tell your mom to talk to me and we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.” 

“OK,” Ashley agreed, sounding much more cheerful. 

  


  


  


The next afternoon Ashley found Chucho standing by the fence watching Javi ride Azucar back across the pasture toward the corral. Ashley sat for a minute on her bike, slowly untwining what looked like a scarf of her mother’s making from her neck as she watched him slow Azucar from a gallop to a smooth trot. 

“I’ll tell you something, Abuelo,” Ashley said as Javi rode toward the corral. “If you ever want to make sure that Mom falls good and hard for Javi, you just need to get her out here and let her see him on a horse.” 

Chucho looked at her questioningly and she tried to explain. “You know how dashing guys look when they’re riding. Like at the beginning of _Pride and Prejudice,_ when Darcy and Bingley come galloping across the fields looking all manly and romantic.” 

Chucho didn’t know who Darcy and Bingley were, but if they were riding through their neighbors’ crops, it wouldn’t be surprising if they were run out of town on a rail. Manly, maybe, but he wasn’t sure how that would be romantic. 

“Do you ride any of your other horses besides Azucar?” Ashley was asking. 

“She’s really our only saddle horse,” Chucho said apologetically. 

Ashley sighed deeply. “Well. I was thinking that if there were two, they could have a romantic ride together, but we’ll have to make do. But in the meantime, I wonder if Javi will let me ride…” She bounced on her toes in anticipation as Javi rode close to the fence. 

It seemed Javi would, and Chucho watched a little longer as Javi reviewed the procedures with Ashley, who was sparkling with happiness. Azucar had a sheen of sweat on her neck, and Chucho suspected Javi had ridden her pretty hard to take the edge off her feistiness before Ashley’s turn. And indeed, Azucar was much milder with Ashley this time. Well, he could trust Javi to make sure Azucar was well sprayed down and watered when they were done. He headed back to the house to start supper. If he started now, it would be ready by the time they were done with the horse. 

  


  


  


Chucho wasn’t quite sure how he’d found himself talked into this, but he had to admit, as he took a step back on Wednesday evening, that he found a brand of happiness bubbling up inside him that hadn’t been there in many a long day. 

Ashley and Ginny had taken it upon themselves to bake and decorate sugar cookies in Chucho’s kitchen. Ashley’s Christmas mixtape was playing again from the living room, where the tree lit the room, and somehow that girl had managed to get icing and sprinkles and ball decorations _everywhere._ The kitchen floor was crunchy with them. Ginny had taken care of the baking part, but now that the cookies were cool and the decorating had begun, she was squabbling with Javi over how each cookie had to be unique. Javi, it seemed, was doing every cookie the same and that was against the rules of Christmas. Ashley joined the fray, promising Javi she’d assist him if he would reform his evil ways. It didn’t seem to occur to either of the girls that they were lucky Javi hadn’t just retreated to his room and refused to participate at all. 

How Linda would have enjoyed this. No doubt she would have been on the girls’ side, as she had known all the unwritten rules of celebrating Christmas. 

“Don Chucho, what do you think? Isn’t Javi cheating?” Ginny demanded, turning to Chucho with a twinkle in her eye. 

“Don’t drag me into this,” he said. 

“Come on, Pop, back me up here,” Javi said. “They’re just going to get eaten anyway, so what does it matter?” 

“What does it matter?” Ginny and Ashley echoed in shock. They went on, talking over each other, to explain exactly why it mattered. 

“Well, never mind,” Chucho said finally. “You can leave Javi’s cookies with us. We aren’t picky about what they look like, are we, Javi?” 

“No, we are not,” Javi said, before stuffing one of his uniform cookies into his mouth and raising an eyebrow defiantly at the girls. 

Later Chucho helped Ginny dry—or at least, he attempted to, but he was getting better at using the fingers of his left hand to hold things—the dishes, while Ashley exclaimed again over the _Nacimiento_ to Javi. He must have been in an argumentative mood because he heard him tell Ashley that the spotted dog’s name was _not_ Cuddles but, in fact, Killer. 

“Javi named that dog Bandit,” Chucho told Ginny. 

She giggled. “I bet Javi doesn’t remember a thing. He just likes to tease her.” 

Chucho shook his head. He could hear Ashley laughing now, so Ginny must be right. “Are you and Ashley coming here for Christmas Day, Ginny? We’d like to have you. It will be pretty quiet here with just me and Javi, and you would brighten things up for us a lot.” 

Ginny sighed. “Don Chucho, you are the nicest person alive. I know Ashley invited herself over here and you might actually like some time alone with your son on Christmas.” 

“Ginny, Javi and I have plenty of time alone. But how about this. Christmas morning we can do our own things, and then later maybe you two can come over for a meal? I’m sure Ashley will come up with an activity list for us to do the rest of the day.” 

“No doubt. OK. It’s a deal. You are the best, Don Chucho.” 

But Chucho had an activity list for Ashley before she went home…she had to sweep the kitchen floor three times before Chucho was satisfied that it was free of sprinkles. 

  


  


  


There was much excitement in the Gutierrez household, Ashley reported on the phone the next day. Javi had gotten tickets for Saturday to the Christmas Gala fundraiser the Laredo chamber of commerce put on every year to benefit the community center. It was a semiformal affair, and Ginny had to scramble to find a suitable dress. “But we found one for sale in the New Year’s Eve section that will work just fine,” Ashley explained. “It’s the most gorgeous silver, and it’s a _leeetle_ bit slinky, but it makes Mom look really good. She already has shoes, so we just had to find earrings and a necklace. She’s going to look fantastic. I wish I could go see all the dresses. But I was already planning to sleep over at Tricia’s that night. It’s her birthday. She says she always gets cheated since her birthday is so close to Christmas and she has to insist on at least getting a non-Christmas-related sleepover.” 

Chucho saw Javi off late Saturday afternoon, looking very sophisticated. That boy cleaned up well. Chucho sometimes had to remind himself that it was only when Javi was on the ranch that he was always sweaty and dirty. Sometimes in Colombia, Chucho knew, Javi had mixed with ambassadors and other dignitaries. Not that Javi ever talked much about that. Or anything else related to Colombia. Chucho hoped he was at least talking to the therapist about it. 

  


  


  


Sunday morning, Chucho was surprised to find that it was after 9 a.m. when he woke. He hardly ever slept past 6:30…the Tylenol he’d taken in the middle of the night must have put him right out. He wondered if Javi had forgotten he was going to take Chucho to church. 

But when Chucho walked down the hall, the door to Javi’s room was closed. Was he still asleep? Should Chucho knock? But no, it was too late to get to church on time anyway. He would just start a pot of coffee and take it out on the veranda. He could pray there. 

It was odd, Chucho thought, that he hadn’t heard Javi come in. For that matter, _had_ Javi come in? Chucho couldn’t resist peeking outside to see if Javi’s Jeep was out front, but of course it wasn’t. Javi almost always parked in the shed. 

Chucho had sworn not to butt into Javi’s private life, and he was not going to go out to check. He was just going to drink his coffee and not think about it. 

He didn’t think about it as he struggled to get dressed, and he didn’t think about it while he shaved. This process still took three times as long as it should, even though he was used to shaving with his right hand. At least he was not waking up in the morning anymore with the terrible stiffness everywhere that he’d experienced the first week after the surgery. He thought he heard some bumping around while he was in the bathroom, and when he came out into the hall, Javi was emerging from his room, still tucking in his shirt. “I’m sorry, Dad. I overslept. Do you still want to try to get to church? You’ll be really late.” 

Chucho looked at his watch, now on his right arm. “No. If you’ll help me with this shirt, I think I’ll just go to lunch with the crew a little later, if you can take me. Last week was a bit too much, to be honest.” 

“OK, Pop,” Javi said, helping Chucho out of the sling and into his sleeve, then doing up the buttons. 

And before he could stop himself Chucho had asked, “How was the gala?” He winced. Did that qualify as nosy? 

“We didn’t get there.” 

At Chucho’s surprised look, Javi went on. “We were all ready and were dropping Ashley off at her friend’s house—she was going to stay overnight with her. But when we got there, her friend’s mother was having some kind of crisis. I guess the PTO has free Christmas dinner groceries they distribute? Well, the volunteers to deliver them all came down with the flu and the frozen food was thawing, or something. So Ginny looked at me, and what was I supposed to say, Dad? ‘No, we can’t help the poor and needy because we’re going to a ritzy thing for rich people’? So we stayed and Ginny offered to help deliver the stuff. She saw the list of names and she insisted not just that she drive but that we didn’t have time to go home and change. 

“And then I found out why. You remember Old Man Redmond?” 

“Oh yes.” 

“Did you know he had the nerve to reproduce?” 

“Yes, don’t you remember? His son is a little older than Ginny.” 

“Well, that’s where we were going. And Ginny didn’t tell me till we were on that old lane full of holes that my Jeep would have handled a lot better than her little hatchback. I said, ‘Doesn’t this go to the Redmond place?’ 

“And she said, ‘Yes’ in a very determined voice, not looking at me. 

“I said, ‘Does this seem like a good idea to you, Ginny?’ She said, ‘Not really, Javi’ and she did not slow down at all. She knew perfectly well, Dad, that I would never have taken her there and that’s why she wanted to drive. And she wanted to get there before dark, which at least showed some very small sense of caution. 

“We got there to that old run-down place and the woman came out to meet us. Dad, my instincts said there was a gun trained on us somewhere, and my instincts aren’t often wrong. I would have felt a lot better with my Beretta in my hand. At least it was a small piece of luck that Ashley had stayed with her friend. I got between Ginny and the house, but I never did see any sign of anyone else except that there was an unnatural silence. 

“Ginny said, very cheerfully, ‘Here’s your Christmas basket, Mindy. Sorry we’re late—I got recruited at the last minute.’ 

“And the woman said a colorless tone—I have heard that before in people who are beaten down and afraid--‘There must be some mistake. I didn’t order any food.’ And Ginny said slowly, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, Mindy. It was all kind of a rush and maybe they got confused.’ She looked at the woman and said, ‘But you and the kids are coming to my Christmas party tonight, right? I came all this way to pick you up…’ 

“This Mrs. Redmond just looked at Ginny—she knew what Ginny was offering—and she hesitated, and then shook her head and walked back into the house and shut the door. 

“Ginny threw the stuff in the backseat and we got out of there. She swore the whole way at that Redmond man and how he was going to beat his wife for signing up for the food for her and the kids, and then she was mad at the woman for not leaving him…”

“It’s a terrible situation," Chucho said. "The police have been there, social workers, child protective services, Father Diaz, and even the Baptist preacher, but nothing ever changes. Redmond won’t stop, there’s always some kind of government red tape, even though they’ve been reported a number of times, and the wife won’t leave him and won’t press charges.” 

“Well, Ginny delivered the rest of the food, joking with everyone about us being dressed up for the occasion. She took the Redmonds’ food to that little old lady that lives down the hall from her, the one with six cats. Miss Lila, or something? We went there and sat and talked with that woman for close to an hour and each and every one of those cats had to climb on me. Ginny cheered Miss Lila right up, but, Dad, underneath she was really upset about Mindy Redmond.” 

“I’m not surprised. Ginny might be cool on the outside, but she has a tender heart. And I think Mindy was in her class at school, but she dropped out to marry the Redmond boy.” 

Javi shook his head, lighting a cigarette. “Sometimes the system is rigged, and sometimes you rig the system for yourself and then you can’t find a way out.” He avoided Chucho’s eyes. Chucho didn’t think he was talking about Mindy Redmond anymore. 

“Your _tia_ had a boyfriend like that when she was young… She got out of the situation, but it took a while. It took longer than anyone wanted for her.” He sighed. “Most of us have something destructive we’ve chained ourselves to at one time or another. It’s not always as obvious or as dangerous as an abusive husband.” 

Javi eyed him and took the cigarette out of his mouth. “How do you come up with that kind of philosophy this early in the morning?” 

“Just matching yours, Javi. Come on. I made us some coffee in the kitchen.” 

  


  


  


Javi stayed and ate lunch with Chucho and the crew at the café. News of Ginny and Javi’s well-dressed deliveries had already reached the others, who spent most of the meal razzing the two of them. Ginny insisted, tongue-in-cheek, that she had dressed up out of respect for the PTO, and Javi said he didn’t want to be outshone. It was all very good-natured and easy. And—it might have been Chucho’s imagination, but he didn’t think so—it seemed something had shifted in Ginny and Javi’s relationship. It was as if they had come to a new understanding. Like something had been settled between them. 

Ginny saw him watching them when she was taking their orders. Her dimples peeped out and she winked at him. 

Well. It was clear that Ashley was just a cheeky chip off the old block. Chucho could only smile back. Whatever had happened, it seemed to be good. 

Chucho tried, he really did, to stay out of earshot when Javi took the check up to the register. He didn’t hear what Javi said, but Ginny blushed just a little and replied “Me too, Javi.” Again her eyes gave her away: she glowed when she looked at Javi. Chucho wondered that no one else seemed to be able to see it. When he said something else, she nodded. “That sounds good. I’ll see you then.” 

After they stopped at Manny’s, Chucho settled into his chair to watch football and Javi went out to feed the animals. Soon, Chucho promised himself, he could do that again. Already he had a lot more movement in the fingers of his left hand. 

Chucho had been hoping Javi would stay and talk a little more when he came in, but Javi’s burst of confidences from the morning seemed to be over. Javi spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out one of the cupboards and moving the pots to a different spot, for some unfathomable reason. Chucho heated up some leftovers for supper, but conversation was sparse, and Javi soon left in the Jeep. 

Chucho went to bed early, but not before he remembered to pray for Mindy Redmond and the kids, though he didn’t know how many of them there were. And he even prayed for Sam Redmond’s heart to change, since he was the cause of the whole mess. Chucho knew the man had been beaten himself as a child. But Chucho would still prefer the heart-changing to happen in jail. 

  


  


  


“So did Javi tell you they didn’t go to the gala but ended up delivering the other half of the Christmas baskets instead?” Ashley asked when she wheeled her bike up onto the porch Monday afternoon. “I was a little bummed because I wanted to hear about all the glamor.” Ashley sighed. “Oh well. Maybe they’ll get another chance to do something like that. They looked so good. Mom’s dress was to die for, and Javi looks very handsome in a suit. Not as good as he does on Azucar, but still good.” 

It seemed no one had told Ashley about the Redmonds… Chucho wasn’t sure how he felt about that, but it wasn’t his call. 

She collapsed into Linda’s rocker beside Chucho, where a glass of lemonade was ready and waiting. “But anyway, I took a really long nap when I got home in the afternoon Sunday since I never get any sleep at Tricia’s because we have too much fun talking. Then when Mom got off work, Javi came over and we had a Blockbuster night. We rented that movie where Tim the Tool Man Taylor turns into Santa Claus. I had already seen it but it’s funny and Christmassy, so… Anyway, Mom and Javi were _very_ snuggly on the couch, so I sat on the floor because it was just a little awkward, you know? (I was wishing for a little bit there that we had a porch swing or even a porch and not our tiny little balcony where they could go.) We had massive bowls of popcorn and I kept dropping pieces on myself until I realized it was not me. I looked back and Javi was looking as innocent as a newborn baby…but the kernels kept coming. One landed right on my head and I turned around and just gave him a barrage. Then he went two-handed and pretty soon we had a huge mess and even Mom joined in. Once we ran out of popcorn to throw, we had a giant pillow fight with the couch cushions. It was so much fun. And, Abuelo, it made me so happy to see Javi laugh. I wish he laughed more often.” 

Chucho covered her hand with his. “ _Mija,_ you have a good heart. You take care of it, and don’t let anyone or anything change you as you get older.” 

“Abuelo? Are you OK?” 

He managed to smile at her. “I think so. I gave that advice to Javi long ago. But he didn’t take it.” 

Ashley curled her hand around his. “He’s going to be OK, Abuelo. You’ll see.”


	13. Chapter 13

It stormed all night Monday, and although they were grateful for the rain, Javi and Chucho spent the better part of the morning and afternoon Tuesday fixing fences. Chucho drove the pickup—he could manage it now if he sat forward enough to use the fingers of his left hand. Javi shook his head at him, but he didn’t object when Chucho got behind the wheel. It wasn’t as if they were going to run into other vehicles. And he could restring the fencing wire, even if he couldn’t reset the posts. Down by the river they saw three armed boats go by, and Chucho knew Javi was watching. But Chucho kept trying to work, and finally Javi turned his attention back to the fence and told Chucho to put the cutters down, he would do that. 

But Javi did insist on doing the driving to Laredo for Ranza’s Christmas Eve gathering once they’d showered and changed into their good clothes. He seemed to be more relaxed than he had at Thanksgiving, accepting Ranza’s embraces if not with enthusiasm then with good grace, and his cousins’ chatter with patience. Chucho held Nita and Danny’s fussy baby while everyone ate—he was still tiny enough Chucho could manage him with one good arm, and he hadn’t lost his touch of walking a baby around until he finally succumbed to sleep. 

“Did you used to be this good at getting Javi to sleep, Tio Chucho?” Nita asked as she took her sleeping son so Chucho could eat before everything got cold. “What’s your secret?” 

Chucho looked over at Javi, who, to Chucho’s surprise, was helping one of the children to a molded _buñuelo._ He had usually stuck to interacting with the adults on these occasions. “I was pretty good at it, but I had a lot of practice. Javi was a fussy baby.” 

Javi heard his name and gave his father an exasperated look, as he now became the center of attention. Ranza recalled for the family some of his most embarrassing childhood incidents, including throwing up all over the priest’s vestments at his baptism, and stealing the show as a rambunctious camel in his second-grade Christmas play. Chucho was even more surprised when Javi smiled along with them. “Don’t forget the part where Mary told me to sit and then whacked me with the Baby Jesus doll and gave me a black eye. The Christmas pictures from that year were pretty interesting with that big shiner showing up in all of them.” Chucho remembered that Javi’s teacher had retired at the end of that year. Poor woman. 

After the leftovers were put away, the rest of the family exchanged gifts while Javi and Chucho did the dishes. Chucho watched in admiration as Javi packed Ranza’s dishwasher to the brim before turning his attention back to the miscellaneous dishes that wouldn’t fit. 

“I’ll say this for you, Javi: you don’t cook much, but you are good at cleaning up.” 

“Thanks, Pop…I think. Just leave that roasting pan to air dry—it’s too big for you to hold. Really, Pop, that heavy slow cooker crock? Dad… Why don’t you just sit down and I’ll finish this?” 

“Ginny is a lot nicer to me when I dry for her,” Chucho couldn’t resist saying as he sat down in a kitchen chair. 

“She can wash dishes instead of me anytime she wants,” Javi retorted. 

“And she’s respectful and doesn’t talk back to me,” Chucho said, trying to repress a grin. 

Javi turned around. “She’s pretty great, Dad, if that’s what you want me to admit.” 

Chucho chuckled, trying to do it quietly so as not to attract the attention of the rest of the family. “She is. But then, so is my Javi.” 

Javi put down the dishrag. “That’s…that’s nice, Dad. Thanks.” 

“Well, you are, Javi. I’m proud of you.” 

Javi nodded. “OK.” He turned abruptly back to the sink. 

“And I’m grateful for all the help you’ve given me too, and not just since I got hurt. You’re a good son.” 

“OK, Dad, it’s getting a little soppy.” 

Chucho chuckled again. “All right, Javi. But you remember what I said.” 

“I won’t forget, Dad.” 

Why, Chucho wondered later that night, had it been so hard to say those words to Javi at home in his own kitchen? Why had it taken sitting at Ranza’s table in Laredo to loosen his tongue? 

He and Javi had left the singing and dancing at Ranza’s a little early to get back to Hebbronville for midnight mass—one of the two times a year Javi darkened the door of a church. He and Javi were standing for the Gospel reading and Chucho stole a glance at him. A little half smile grew on Javi’s face. “Merry Christmas, Pop,” he whispered without looking. 

And Chucho thought it might be. 

  


  


  


Chucho woke at 8—late again, but since he hadn’t fallen asleep until after 1, that wasn’t so bad. He got up and started the coffee. He could get the cast into his shirt sleeve by himself and do up most of the buttons (with patience) now that he had more motion in his shoulder and fingers, and this bit of independence did wonders for his dignity. It was hard though to know that the feeding needed to be done and he couldn’t simply go out and take care of it. The tractor was still beyond him, though he was sorely tempted to just go try. Javi was here, and Javi could do it. Chucho just had to be patient until he could take over once again. 

The day looked sunny, and Chucho took his coffee out onto the porch. But still a little chilly. He went back inside for the quilt and comforter he’d stuffed into the drier after Monday night’s rains and took them out to the porch swing. 

But it didn’t feel right to sit in the Love Nest without Linda, as silly as that sounded. He switched to Linda’s rocker, and that felt much better. He leaned back with the quilt and the coffee and the quiet. Yes. This was right. He closed his eyes. A good way to spend an early Christmas morning. 

  


  


  


“Hey, Pop.” 

Javi’s voice interrupted Chucho’s half-awake reverie. Javi had stepped out on the porch in his sleepwear—an old faded T-shirt (Javi’s concession to winter since he usually went shirtless) and plaid flannel pajama bottoms. His hair was mussed and sticking up in the back. He yawned hugely, and it brought back to Chucho’s mind the ten-year-old who used to pace the hall outside his parents’ bedroom Christmas morning until he was allowed to go and tear into the gifts. 

“Good morning, Javi. Did you get some coffee?” 

“I will,” Javi said, yawning again and climbing under the comforter in the Love Nest. He left one bare foot out to push the swing into a gentle sway. 

They had probably sat there saying nothing for a good twenty minutes before Javi said, “How do you do that, Dad?” 

“What?” 

Javi made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Just sit there giving off waves of peace.” 

Chucho was startled. “Waves of peace?” 

“Yeah, Dad. Or something like it. Like nothing will ever faze you.” 

“I don’t know, Javi. I feel like a lot of things would faze me plenty.” 

“Yeah, but they never do,” Javi said. Chucho heard the bitterness behind it. 

“I guess I try to live at peace with God and my fellow men,” Chucho said. “But, Javi, you have to remember that I was never in a war. Not like you.” 

Javi sighed deeply and rubbed his forehead. Chucho wondered if he had a headache coming on, or if it went deeper than that. Javi stood and said, “I’m going to take the tractor out. When I get back, Dad, I want you to open that big box I’ve got in there for you by the tree.” 

“Yeah, I saw it. Did you smuggle that in after I went to bed?” 

Javi grinned. “Role reversal. I know you and Mom had to wait forever till I went to sleep so you could put out the presents.” 

Chucho smiled. “Mostly she did all that. You know I never thought much of that Santa business.” 

Javi hesitated. “It doesn’t exactly seem like Christmas without her, does it? She was the drive behind the celebrating.” 

Chucho had forgotten this was Javi’s first Christmas at home since she’d died. “Nothing is the same without her,” Chucho said. 

“I’m sorry, Dad.” 

“I know you miss her too. I guess life goes on. Happiness sneaks back in when you’re not looking, even if it seems a little punier than it used to be.” 

Javi felt for his cigarettes, then dropped his hand when he remembered he was still in his pajamas. “That’s what I’m talking about, Dad. Peace.” 

Chucho stood and put his good hand on Javi’s shoulder. The advice he wanted to give right now wasn’t something Javi was able to hear yet. After a moment he said, “Come on inside, Son. Your _tia_ sent the rest of the _buñuelos de viento_ home with us. And you need coffee.” 

  


  


  


Chucho put down the box cutter later that morning and looked at his son. “Javi?” 

Javi leaned over from where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Chucho and finished pulling down the side of the huge cardboard box, still bearing its outer layer of gift wrap. “It’s a dishwasher, Dad.” 

“Oh.” Chucho thought of the cell phone, currently charging again on the kitchen table. He did not want to start another argument. 

“That’s why I cleaned out that cupboard by the sink. I’m going to put this in there for you, Pop.” 

“Well.” Chucho swallowed the words of protest. “So I just put the dishes in and push a button and bang, it’s done?” He knew how dishwashers worked in general, of course. He just never thought he’d have to cope with one in his own kitchen. 

“Sort of. You have to put in the soap tab, and it takes a while, an hour maybe? But yeah, bang--clean dishes. Dries them too. And yes, you have to take them out and put them away.” He grinned. 

“Huh.” There were a _lot_ of buttons. “And how long will it take you to put this in?” 

Javi looked sheepish. “I’m not sure about that. I’ll have to cut out part of the cabinet front where the drawer was. But I have the connectors and everything for the water hookup. I can start tomorrow. Later tonight, if you want.” 

Chucho pictured the water turned off for the whole house and the kitchen a sawdust-covered mess. The running water in this place had been put in by his father, who’d had an erratic way of running pipes. It could be interesting. “Well. Let’s enjoy today and start work on it tomorrow. Thank you, Javi.” 

Javi examined the carved-hilt pocketknife Chucho had given him and opened and closed it a few times. Chucho didn’t know how Javi had managed to work the ranch for several months without something like that—Chucho used his for everything from cutting baler’s twine or electrical wire to digging splinters out of his fingers. 

“So what all are Ginny and Ashley bringing to accompany our turkey?” Chucho had forgotten that you needed two hands for lifting one when he’d volunteered to roast it. One more thing he’d had to ask Javi to help him with. 

“Ashley’s bringing her famous gingerbread cookies. Ginny’s bringing…well, everything else.” 

“Sounds fair,” Javi said, raising his eyebrows. 

Chucho chuckled. “She insisted, and I was smart enough not to argue. Besides, we already had sweet potato casserole and bean casserole from the freezer courtesy of the church ladies. So I guess that counts toward our half.” 

At that moment a knock sounded on the front door, startling them both. Neither had heard a car in the lane. Ashley’s face was in the window, beaming. She wore a green striped elf hat. She didn’t wait to be invited but pushed the door open. “Merry Christmas, guys!” Like a whirlwind she came into the room, startling both Javi and Chucho by kissing their cheeks. “ _Feliz Navidad!_ Happy Holidays! _Joyeux Noel!_ I am taking one language each marking period, did I tell you? I already took Spanish—of course that’s easy—and this one is French and next it’s German and then Latin. Ugh. But anyway, I brought my gingerbread cookies, and they’re _good. Tres bien._ And some rolls we can heat up. Not sure what the French is for that—” She disappeared into the kitchen for a moment to drop off her burden and then breezed back through. “There’s more in the car, hold on—” She was out the door. 

After a moment of stunned silence, Javi said with a laugh in his voice, “Looks like the mood around here just changed, Dad.” 

Chucho laughed. “I don’t think we’re going to be bored, Javi.” 

Ginny gave a tap at the screen door. “Hello, Merry Christmas!” She was wearing some kind of shimmery blouse, and her big hoop earrings had been replaced with tiny dangling Christmas trees that sparkled in the light. She put down her box inside the door and hugged first Javi and then Chucho. “Thank you for inviting us. It’s so nice of you to share your day.” 

“Well, we needed a cook,” Javi said provocatively. 

Ginny rolled her eyes. “Don Chucho would _never_ \-- Whoa.” Ginny took a sudden detour and knelt in front of the dishwasher, still partially swathed in its box. “Nice, Don Chucho! Eco wash, timed start, gentle cycle for china… Fancy! I guess _someone_ was getting tired of washing dishes all the time.” Her back was to Javi and she winked at Chucho. 

“You know that’s not why—” Javi began to protest. 

“Javi’s going to put it in for me this week,” Chucho said. “He’s not just a pretty face—he’s handy too.” He winked back. 

“All right, you two,” Javi said in a resigned tone. 

Ashley burst in the door again. “Ho ho ho,” she said, hefting a bag of gifts into the living room. “And that’s the only Santa impression I’m doing today.” She began to unpack it, putting each gift neatly under the tree. There were more than Chucho had anticipated. As far as he knew, they were only exchanging gifts with Ashley. He hoped Ginny hadn’t gone all out on them. “Wait till you see what I got today. I brought some of my swag so you can check it out, Abuelo. I got the coolest board game we can play later. And no matter what Mom says, I _did_ ration my sugar intake. I have tons of candy left over. _And_ room for dinner. Though if it’s not for _hours,_ I might have to dig into it.” 

She stood up and for the first time Chucho realized she was wearing a plain red sweater, but she had draped herself in a variety of Christmas necklaces featuring snowmen, reindeer, angels, jingle bells, and blinking Christmas bulbs. It looked both ridiculous and perfect. Like a happy child should look on Christmas Day. Chucho was glad Ashley wasn’t growing up too fast. Chucho remembered the year little Javi had gotten a hat with felt reindeer antlers on top in the school gift exchange. He had worn it constantly at home (having to be strongly persuaded not to wear it to bed) until the wire under one antler broke on Christmas Day. Fortunately there had been plenty to distract him that day because that boy had loved that thing with his whole heart. Chucho was surprised Ranza hadn’t whipped out the story of the reindeer antlers too last night. 

“Oh, Mom! Come out to see Azucar. Can she come out to see Azucar? Maybe Javi can put her through her paces. She is so beautiful, Mom.” Ashley darted out the door. 

Javi looked at Ginny and Ginny looked back. “I guess we’re going to see the horse,” Javi said. It took Javi a while to find his boots, but soon they were heading out toward the corral. Chucho smiled as he watched them go—their hands were brushing as they walked. He knew he could trust Ashley to persuade Javi to ride, if he was at all persuadable today. Meanwhile, he would check on the turkey. 

  


  


  


The turkey was roasted perfectly, if Chucho did say so himself. The sweet potato casserole was not the best (far too sweet), but everything Ginny had brought was delicious. Including Ashley’s cookies, which she plopped onto the table as part of the main meal. As the warm chatter flowed around him, Chucho couldn’t help but compare this year’s Christmas dinner to last year’s, when he’d eaten leftovers alone and worked most of the day. He’d been content with that then, but now that he’d had a taste of family again…how would he cope when Javi left? He could not tie Javi down here, and if Javi took Ginny and Ashley with him—well, it was everything he wanted for his son. He would be selfish indeed to wish to keep them here—

“Hey, Pop. Pass that green bean casserole over here, would you? Ashley didn’t get any.” 

“Oh, ugh! No way. Keep that nasty stuff over there, Abuelo. I’m eating this nice lettuce salad. That’s plenty of green.” 

“You’re a growing girl, Ashley,” Javi said, hovering a spoonful over her plate. 

“I’m growing just fine!” Ashley protested, covering her plate with both hands. “I ate some pickles too, and they’re green! 

“Full of vitamin B…,” Javi wheedled. 

“I take vitamins every day!” 

“Don’t tease her, Javi,” Chucho said, taking the spoon. “She’s perfect just the way she is.” 

Javi winked at Ashley and she sniffed but broke down and smiled back at his grin. 

Then she sat up very straight. “Everyone please remember for the rest of the day that I am _perfect._ Abuelo said so.” 

“Oh, Don Chucho,” Ginny sighed. 

  


  


  


“Does your fireplace work?” Ashley was asking after dinner, crawling up onto the hearth to peer inside the doors. 

“When’s the last time you even used that thing?” Javi asked, draping his arm around Ginny’s shoulders as she settled next to him on the couch with a cup of coffee. 

“I had the chimney cleaned a couple of years ago,” Chucho said. “I guess we could start a fire if you want, Ashley.” 

“We need one for Christmas,” Ashley said firmly. “I don’t suppose we have any chestnuts to roast?” 

“Afraid not,” Chucho said. “Did you know my _abuelo_ hand-built this fireplace and chimney with rocks he hauled in from the river?” 

“It’s beautiful,” Ashley said. “Just like his _Nacimiento_ carvings. And all the more reason to use the fireplace!” 

“There’s a pile of wood out in the shed, Ashley. You’ll find the splitter right beside it,” Javi said. Ginny elbowed him. 

“He’s teasing you, _mija,_ ” Chucho told a wide-eyed Ashley. “The wood has been split for ages. But you can come out and help me bring some in.” 

“We will _all_ help,” Ginny said sternly, putting down her cup with authority. “You are not supposed to be lifting things like that, Don Chucho.” 

When they came back into the house, Chucho showed Ashley how to lay the logs and kindling, while Javi and Ginny washed the dishes. 

“I brought marshmallows. _Guimauves_ ,” Ashley whispered once a cheerful blaze was going. 

“Didn’t you just have dessert, young lady?” 

“ _Pffft_. A few cookies.” 

“How about we can roast marshmallows after you open your presents? Spread out the sugar.” 

Ashley sighed. “I keep forgetting you are a parent. All right.” 

When the dishes were done and Ginny and Javi joined them in the living room, Ashley pulled out the presents from under the tree, then gave a little scream. “We forgot Baby Jesus!” She stood and picked up the figurine from where Chucho had put it on the mantel. She cleared her throat. Doing her best impression of Linus from the TV Christmas special Javi used to love, she recited: “For behold, I bring unto you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. In Abuelo’s _Nacimiento._ ” She placed Baby Jesus gently in the painted hay. 

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Then she added, as if it was part of the ancient text, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.” She further spoiled the effect by saying, “And now, _presents! Cadeaux!_ ”

“Wait, wait!” Ginny cried, reaching for her purse. She came up with her camera. “First we need a group picture. A new one for Don Chucho’s album.” She smiled at him. 

Ashley groaned. “This is going to take forever.” 

It did take quite some time. First Ginny had to find a way to set up the camera so they’d all fit in the frame. Then the timer on it didn’t work right and she had to fiddle with it. Then Javi had to fiddle with it. Meanwhile, Ashley was poking around the presents under the tree and giving them a gentle shake. 

Once they had the camera situated and the timer mechanism ironed out, Ginny had to set the timer and then dive into the picture. She was sure she hadn’t made it into the first few and she declared she was not having Christmas pictures leaving a legacy of her backside, and then when she finally did make it into the picture while seated, Ashley squealed a protest, as Javi had stuck one of the bows on her forehead at the last second. After the scuffle had died down, they tried another picture, but the bow ended up on the top of Javi’s head. Ginny threatened to leave that as their official picture if they didn’t settle down, and then the bow mysteriously stuck to her ear when the shutter clicked. In the last picture Ginny perched the bow on the brim of Chucho’s hat. He didn’t mind. That—and all the other silly pictures of everyone together—would be a perfect addition to the album. 

  


  


  


“Oh, the Peñas give the _best_ presents. Thank you,” Ashley breathed, clutching to her chest the flower-etched cowboy boots and the cowgirl hat with a matching flower-etched band. Chucho was glad he’d consulted with Ginny and gone in with Javi on the gifts. Immediately Ashley’s old boots came off and the new ones went on, and ditto for the elf hat. Ashley’s plethora of gifts to everyone were all handmade—many of them her attempts at knitting, which were not entirely successful. Chucho remembered with a pang that his refrigerator had once been plastered with Javi’s handmade offerings. He didn’t know what had happened to them. Maybe Linda had tucked them away in a box somewhere. 

He remembered a colored macaroni necklace Javi had made in school and brought home for Chucho to wear. Being young and stupid, Chucho—who had never worn a necklace in his life and didn’t intend to start—had been about to refuse. A look at Javi’s trembling lip had given him the idea to wear it as a hat band, which brought smiles back to that little face he loved. He was never going to take such things for granted again. Today he would wear a necklace from a child without a second thought. He had never worn a scarf either, but now he had a nice one he was going to wear this winter, uneven rows and all, whether the weather was cold or not. 

Chucho shook himself out of his reverie to find that Ashley had gotten Javi and Ginny up off the couch to do a line dance with her, though there was barely any room, what with the dishwasher and the coffee table and the tree and all the wrapping paper still littering the floor. 

When Ashley’s mixtape came to an end and snapped off, Javi led Ashley over to the cabinet underneath the stereo. “My mom had a lot of Christmas music. Let’s see what’s in here.” He pulled out several records, and Ginny joined him, exclaiming over the ones she also knew from her youth—Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, José Feliciano… 

“That’s cool,” Ashley said cautiously. “And those grooves in the plastic actually have music in them?” 

“You know how to make me feel old, Ashley,” Javi sighed, demonstrating how to put the record on and place the needle. 

Javi and Ginny smiled at each other when the music came on, but Chucho thought Ashley looked bored, so he suggested they go in search of the marshmallows. When Chucho and Ashley came back into the living room, Javi and Ginny were heading out the front door, likely to the Love Nest. Chucho noticed Javi slipping a small present into the pocket of his leather jacket. 

Chucho sat down in front of the hearth with a contented sigh. He was surrounded by loved ones, the tree was lit, some velvety Nat King Cole was playing, the fire was glowing…and Ashley’s marshmallow was in flames. As she shrieked and blew at it frantically, Chucho smiled to himself. 

Though the morning had been peaceful and lovely, he’d take this livelier Christmas every time. 

  


  


  



	14. Chapter 14

The morning after Christmas, Chucho was surprised to find when he came into the kitchen that Javi was up and had gone out already. Coffee brewed and everything. He could hear the tractor heading out. 

Chucho eyed the little oscillating saw that Javi had put on the kitchen table beside the drawer he had taken out of its runner. Chucho was not at all optimistic about how this dishwasher installation was going to go. But for now, after a little coffee, he’d keep his faith in Javi’s carpentry and plumbing skills and just find a place to put everything that was still in the drawer. 

That task finished, Chucho put on his hat and his brand-new scarf and walked out the front door. But what he saw there made him smile: a sprig of mistletoe was stuck in the ceiling hook above the Love Nest. He didn’t think Ashley had been out to do that...he would have put money on Javi, but Ginny could be sneaky…

He wondered what the present to Ginny had been. Obviously it hadn’t been a ring, or he’d have heard about it last night, but he couldn’t help being curious. 

And likely his curiosity would go unsatisfied. 

Still, it was a good start to the day. 

  


  


  


The sawing of the cupboard had gone fine, though the cabinets were real wood and not particle board…it was the pipes that were giving Javi fits. He’d already made two trips to the hardware store in town for adapters to fit with the eccentric pipes, and now his lower two-thirds was sticking out from under the cabinet, and the upper one-third was doing a lot of swearing inside. 

Chucho hoped the machine was worth all this trouble. 

By Saturday night he was convinced it wasn’t. (Though he might be a bit biased.) Javi had canceled his date with Ginny to wrestle the plumbing. Finally, by 10 p.m., he gave some kind of victory shout, and by 11 p.m., he was doing an experimental run-through of the machine with two plates inside. Chucho decided he would go to bed. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see what would happen. 

Sunday morning Chucho found a puddle under the sink. It cut him to the quick to see water being wasted in a drought. Then when he pushed the faucet handle to fill the coffee pot, it spit air and sporadic spurts of water. But he only sighed and kept filling the pot as best he could. He’d need coffee if he was going to clean up this mess before church. 

  


  


  


“Well, Mom had her party with her frenemies,” Ashley announced to Chucho over the cell phone on New Year’s Day. Chucho discovered pretty quickly that he had to stop the pickup and put it in park if he was going to try to talk on the phone. The cows began to meander over toward the truck to see if there was any hay in the back. “And of course she got to show Javi off. He was really lucky that Terri’s husband was there so he had somebody to talk to. They got along great. But Terri didn’t bring their kids, so I was pretty bored. I was over near the drinks on the counter and Javi saw me looking and gave me the stink eye. Like I would have sampled anything! But then he mixed me up some virgin cocktails—that’s really what they’re called, Abuelo—with juice and 7-Up and these different-flavored syrups and sometimes a maraschino cherry or a lime slice…so with those and the snacks it wasn’t all that bad. I blew my noisemaker at midnight and went to bed. I fell right to sleep in spite of the noise. What did you do, Abuelo?” 

“My night was even more boring than yours, Ashley. Not even any cocktails. Just a can of beer and an early night.” 

“You didn’t even go out and shoot your gun at midnight?” 

“No. I didn’t set off any fireworks either. I was already asleep.” 

“Aw, I should have come over to keep you awake.” 

Chucho chuckled. The innocence of youth, assuming he gave two hoots about the clock turning to 12 like it did every other night of the year. “You can come over and help me put away the Christmas decorations. You promised, remember?” 

“Yep. I’m coming Sunday when she gets off work, Mom says. It’s a little depressing though.” 

“We can go visit Azucar first, while it’s still light. Make sure you bring your boots and hat.” 

He could almost see her brighten at the thought. “OK, Abuelo. See you then!” 

  


  


  


The kitchen phone rang while Chucho was making sandwiches at noon. The dishwasher was still leaking, and Chucho had put down a plastic shower curtain as a mat to keep the moisture from getting into the flooring. He decided ignoring the dishwasher’s existence was the best course for now. 

“Hello, Mr. Peña? It’s Steve. Steve Murphy.” 

“Hello, Steve. Happy New Year. I hope your family is doing well?” 

“Happy New Year. Yes, at least I think my family is well. That’s actually why I’m calling. Would you give Javi a message for me?” 

“Of course, but you can try his cell phone. He’s out on the tractor.” 

“The tractor, huh? I’m trying to picture that.” Steve laughed softly. “Well, I already tried his cell but just got his voice mail. I’d rather leave a message with a live person.” 

“All right. I still qualify, mostly.” 

“OK.” Steve laughed again but Chucho thought it sounded strained. “Connie’s blood pressure has been really high. We thought it was just because of the holidays, but when she went in to have it checked, she was diagnosed with preeclampsia. Which means she’s on bed rest till the baby’s born.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, Steve. Is she OK? How is that going with your other little one?” 

Steve sighed. “Connie’s sister is staying with us and watching Olivia, but…it’s a strain. Connie is not exactly relaxing. They will try to deliver the baby as late as they can, but... She’s at 30 weeks now, and they want her to get to 37 weeks at least…”

Chucho understood the helplessness a father often felt during pregnancy. “And the baby is doing all right so far?” 

“Yes. So far.” 

“And the father?” 

Steve gave a shaky laugh. “I think my blood pressure is as high as Connie’s.” Chucho thought he heard him take a drag on a cigarette. 

Chucho set about the task of calming Steve’s nerves and reassuring him that Connie was going to handle it like a pro—even though, of course, he had never met her. Fortunately, this didn’t seem to occur to Steve. 

By the time he was finished, Steve gave another shaky laugh. “Mr. Peña, you should be a licensed counselor. Thank you. I’m glad I talked to you.” 

“I am too. I will be happy to meet all four of you face to face in a few months.” 

“We’re looking forward to it. And if you would just let Javi know.” 

“I will. You take care, Steve.” 

No sooner had Chucho hung up than the phone rang again. It was a neighbor reporting that she’d seen two cows grazing _outside_ the fence along the main road to the north. Chucho thanked her and hung up with a sigh. He put the sandwiches back in the fridge. Lunch would have to wait till he rounded up the runaways and found wherever the fence was down. He tried Javi’s cell, but as Steve had reported, the call went to voice mail. The tractor was loud and it wasn’t surprising Javi couldn’t hear when he was on it. Chucho left a message, but it seemed he would be taking the pickup out onto the real roads after all. 

  


  


  


Chucho had been lucky—the cows were not far from where they had torn down a stretch of wire, and it was quick work to chivy them back inside on foot. And he knew it was fortunate that the cows hadn’t gotten out more often. Grazing was pretty much nonexistent with the drought, and cows as a rule did in fact always think the grass was greener on the other side of the fence. 

With only one good arm he couldn’t do much here. This was going to take a major repair—the holes were too wide now to support the posts. They’d need new holes. He thought Tony had returned the power auger he’d borrowed—or at least he hoped so, because Chucho couldn’t do it and Javi was _not_ going to want to dig a post hole manually. 

Chucho tried the cell again, and this time Javi answered. Chucho told him where the attachment should be, and soon he heard the tractor coming across the pasture. 

Though it was a productive afternoon, and they left two new posts and shored-up wiring there along the road, Chucho was frustrated. Not unlike Connie Murphy probably was, he supposed. He hadn’t done more than hold the poles steady for Javi and hammer in some U staples to hold the fencing wire. He was pretty sick of being as helpless as a child and he hated seeing Javi—who shouldn’t be stuck doing this at all, but should be out jailing drug kingpins or whatever it was he wanted to do—covered in sweat from his labors while he himself stood around fresh as a daisy. 

It was nearly four by the time they got back to the house and Chucho put the sandwiches on the table for Javi. They reminded him of Steve’s message for Javi, which he passed on. 

Javi nodded. “I’ll call him later.” He finished chugging his glass of ice water and set it down. “Did Mom have any problems with me when she was pregnant?” 

Chucho chuckled. “I bet you won’t believe this, but your mother babied herself something fierce when she was carrying you.” 

Javi’s eyebrows rose toward his hairline. “ _Mom_ did?” 

Chucho nodded. “You were a long time coming, Javi, and she was taking no chances. For example, someone told her that old wives’ tale about not stretching her arms over her head because it would strangle the baby, and she refused to hang the wash on the line anymore.” Chucho took a drink of his own water. “That’s when we got our first clothes dryer.” 

Javi grinned. “Sounds like good strategy.” 

Chucho smiled too, but he said, “No, trust me, Javi. She did everything in her power to protect you, even if it was based on pure nonsense. Fortunately, once you were born safe and sound, she calmed down about it all.” 

“But apparently I was very fussy,” Javi said dryly. 

“Yes, you had colic,” Chucho said. “But she was pretty sensible about it. She just handed you over to me.” 

“I guess I’ve always been in good hands, Pop,” Javi said. 

  


  


  


Something in Ashley’s voice on the phone on Friday told Chucho this was not an ordinary call. 

“Yes, _mija_? What’s going on?” 

“Something very weird happened today.” 

“Do you want to tell me about it?” 

A shaky sigh came across the line. “OK. But first we have to back up to before Christmas. You remember the Christmas baskets Mom delivered for the PTO instead of going to the gala?” 

“I remember.” 

“Turns out Mom and Javi tried to deliver food to the Redmonds. You know the Redmonds.” 

“I know quite a bit about them.” 

“Yeah. So one of the kids is in the grade above me, right? Brock is his name.” 

“All right.” 

“So I was walking home from school today, minding my own business, and Miles was with me. You know Miles, your friend’s grandson?” 

“Yes, I know who he is.” 

“Anyway, we were walking and we were almost home, and this Brock kid starts following us. That was weird because he usually goes home on the bus because he lives down by the river. He yelled stuff at us and we just ignored him, because he’s one of those annoying kids who’s always talking too loud and starting fights. But then he came right up to us and he said something to me about Mom that I didn’t even understand. Miles looked at me like he was shocked and he told Brock to beat it. Well, Brock, being a jerk, stayed and looked Miles in the eye and repeated what he said. It must have been bad, because Miles went ballistic and just punched him right in the face. 

“So then they were down on the ground pounding each other and blood was flying and I couldn’t even think of what to do. I pulled my pre-algebra book out of my backpack because it’s huge and I started waling Brock, but it was hard to hit just him, because they were rolling around pretty fast. 

“Somehow Mom heard the noise and she came running down and tried to break the boys up. They just ignored her. She ran back inside and I thought she’d bring a bucket of water to throw on them like dogs or something but no, Mom sprayed them with whipped cream.” 

“Whipped cream?” Chucho repeated, equally amazed. 

“It worked,” Ashley said simply. “They both stopped and stared at her, and she made them go up to the apartment. I don’t know how she made them do it, I guess it was just her Mom Look. 

“Anyway, she made them sit down at the kitchen table with me and she gave them each a warm washcloth and they had to clean themselves up. While they were doing that, she was rummaging in the freezer and she came out with a box of corn dogs that she heated up in the microwave. She put plates on the table and made all three of us eat the corn dogs, and then she cut up a bunch of apples and did this whole meal as if she normally feeds me like that right after school. Yeah, right. 

“She told Miles he could go home, and then she gave Brock a bag of ice to put on his face because he was swelling up pretty bad. And this whole time he was acting like he never said a bad thing about her in his life. But she didn’t even ask about the fight. She kept feeding him until he quit eating, and then she said she would drive him home. He kind of freaked out and she said no, she meant she’d just drop him off at the top of his lane and he could walk the rest of the way. 

“So, this whole time, I’m thinking, _Mom, what are you doing??_ And she just acted like she did this every day. She said I could stay home—which was nice but I was 100% doing that anyway—and she gave him a couple of apples to stick in his pocket before she drove him out to his lane.” 

“Wow,” said Chucho. Like Ashley, he wondered what exactly Ginny was doing, besides making sure that child was fed without making a big deal about it. But he wasn’t all that keen on Ginny driving him home by herself. 

“Wow is right,” Ashley said. “I don’t like that kid, and I resent my corn dogs going into his stomach. You know where she is right now? She’s at the grocery store, and I bet you ten bucks she’s getting more food for him. I guess I am just chopped liver and it doesn’t matter whether I want that creep sitting at my kitchen table. I even told Mom what he said about her—or at least what it sounded like—and she wouldn’t tell me what it meant. She just patted my cheek and said she was glad I was still only twelve.” 

“It sounds very uncomfortable for you, _mija,_ but you are going to have to trust your mom. You know she loves you. She hasn’t let you down yet.” 

Ashley huffed. “Depends what you mean by _let me down._ I am very disappointed in her decision.” 

Chucho had to swallow a laugh. “Well. You are a very strong young lady. If your mom can put up with that boy, you can too.” 

“She doesn’t have to go to school with him,” Ashley retorted. 

Chucho was running out of excuses for Ginny, so he drew the conversation to a close with a reminder that he’d see her—and she’d see Azucar—in a couple of days. 

  


  


  


On Sunday Javi only had to drop Chucho off at church, as Ed volunteered to take Chucho to Luis’s for lunch. Chucho was tempted to say something to Ginny about how dangerous Sam Redmond could be, but Ginny was a big girl. He knew she would not take kindly to his interference. Instead, when he paid his check and picked up his takeout meal for Manny, he simply looked her in the eye and told her to take care of herself. She seemed to understand him because she smiled sweetly and said, “I always do, Don Chucho.” 

Javi was a little late coming to pick him up, and Chucho waited in the Jeep while Javi ran inside to say hi to Ginny. Javi was quieter than usual on the way home and Chucho suspected the dishwasher installation that Javi had been working on again was still was not quite right. And indeed, after they’d delivered Manny’s food and returned to the house, Chucho found that Javi had taken the dishwasher out again entirely and was digging around in the bowels of the pipes under the cabinets. Poor Javi. And Chucho couldn’t really help even if he was invited to. 

Chucho got a head start on taking down the Christmas decorations by bringing the empty boxes down out of the attic—they were empty, after all, and very light. It was a small task to gather up the strands of tinsel to use again next year (Linda had loved the stuff and he wasn’t going to throw it away) while the game was on TV in the background. The balls and the various ornaments were light too, easy to handle one-handed. Chucho smiled over the few surviving ornaments Javi had made as a boy—a beaded candy cane, a shellacked reindeer made from some kind of clay, a manger scene (Chucho supposed) made from Magic Markered peg clothespins glued together rather messily… A string of obscenities came from the kitchen, and Chucho winced, regretting a bit the loss of the innocent boy who’d crafted these mementos. Well, time marched on. He nestled the precious memories into their tissue paper and packed them gently away in their boxes. Then he went to offer Javi whatever meager assistance he could. 

  


  


  


Chucho welcomed Ashley’s booted and hatted arrival later in the afternoon like a breath of fresh air. To his surprise, Ginny didn’t stay. “I know Javi wants to finish getting that dishwasher in for you, Don Chucho,” she whispered. “I don’t want to interrupt him.” She handed Chucho an envelope and a wrapped package. “It’s a New Year’s present for you.” She winked and waved as she stepped off the porch to her car. 

Inside the envelope were the pictures of them on Christmas Day in front of the tree—goofy expressions and blurry smears at the edges and bows in various spots and all. Just seeing them made Chucho smile. 

“Now open the present,” said Ashley, who was hanging over the back of his chair. 

It was a brand-new blank photo album, and Ashley guffawed over the photos as she helped him put them in. “That was such a good Christmas, Abuelo. I wish every holiday was that nice.” 

“You have to have ordinary days to make the good ones special,” Chucho said, closing the album at last. “Now, the sun’s going down, Ashley, and if you want to see Azucar in daylight, we’d better hurry.” 

Azucar came to the fence for the treat Ashley offered, but she didn’t linger, which was just as well. When they got back to the house, Ashley dragged her feet over taking down the lights and disassembling the tree. Chucho didn’t blame her—it was depressing to see all the cheer disappear. Nor was it encouraging when Ginny came back to pick up Ashley and Javi only spent a few minutes outside with her before he came back in to wrestle with the dishwasher again. 

  


  


  


Javi left for San Antonio on Tuesday as soon as he’d taken care of the animals. It was hours earlier than normal, but Chucho didn’t ask what it was all about. Instead, he carefully put the cell phone in his jacket pocket—Javi had programmed Tony as speed dial 2 and Ginny as speed dial 3—and drove out to the watering pond. The rain over the weekend seemed to have raised the level quite a lot. If this kept up, the drought might soon be over. Too soon to tell though. 

  


  


  


Wednesday Javi woke up like a bear with a sore head. He snapped at Chucho over coffee, apologized, and snapped again before he even went out the door. Chucho decided it would be a good day to stay alone in the shed and rewire the light sockets, which had been flickering a lot. Probably mice chewing on the wires. 

And if that job didn’t take long enough, he’d rewire everything else. 

Javi went into town after cleaning up, without waiting for the supper Chucho had made (well, heated up—the casseroles from the freezer were still going strong). The dishwasher only leaked now when it was run, so Chucho never ran it. He had figured out how to use a soapy sponge to wash the dishes, held in the fingers of his left hand, then to dunk them in clear water in the other side of the sink to rinse. It was better than waiting for a harried Javi to get around to washing them. 

And it seemed things went from bad to worse. 

“Abuelo,” Ashley said on the phone later that evening. Her voice was husky from crying. “Tell me something to make me feel better. Mom and Javi just had a big fight. When he came over with takeout, I asked him what Brock said about Mom, and he told me what it meant. Abuelo, I can’t believe Mom fed that disgusting boy. But that’s not even the worst part. I already knew he was like that. 

“The worst part was the fight. First Mom got mad that Javi told me. Javi said, ‘She deserves to know, if it’s getting shouted at her. She’s not a child, Ginny.’ And Mom said, ‘She might not be, but she’s _my_ daughter, and I get to decide what she pollutes her ears with.’ And then the whole thing about the fight with Brock and Miles came out—I can’t believe she didn’t tell him about it before, but now I know why—and they fought about that too. I guess Javi thinks Mr. Redmond is pretty vengeful and might come after me and Mom. But Mom said she will feed Brock and take him home again in a heartbeat because she’s not going to stop doing what’s right out of fear. Then they had another big argument about me riding over to the ranch on my bike by myself, and Mom ended up agreeing with him on that, and now I can’t come anymore! And even having Mom agree with him about the bike didn’t make Javi happy! They kept on fighting and finally Javi just left. We didn’t even eat the takeout, but nobody felt like eating after all that anyway. Oh, Abuelo. I feel sick to my stomach.” 

Chucho didn’t feel so good himself. If Javi had left Ginny’s place, where was he now? Chucho guessed there was whiskey involved one way or another. 

“Things are rough for Javi right now. And he’s a protector, _mija._ He wants to keep everyone safe, especially people he cares about. But because things are so rough for him, he doesn’t always know how to express his protectiveness. And your mom has done pretty well on her own so far so she doesn’t like him butting in, however well-meaning he is. It sounds like he had no tact.” 

“Tact?” Ashley snorted. “No. Tact did not make an appearance, Abuelo.” She sighed. “Was it my fault, Abuelo? Maybe I shouldn’t have asked Javi—”

“It was not your fault, _mija_. It sounds to me as if this argument didn’t have much to do with you and a lot more to do with Javi being frustrated and upset.” 

“I can’t believe I can’t come over anymore,” Ashley wept. “It’s not fair! And now Azucar will forget about me!” 

“ _Mija,_ you will still get to come, just maybe not as often. You can always call me. You have my cell phone number now, right? And I promise I will take a carrot out to Azucar first thing tomorrow and tell her it’s from you.” 

“OK.” She sniffed. “Do you…do you think Mom and Javi broke up?” 

“I don’t know, Ashley. People can have a good relationship and still argue sometimes. In fact, it would be surprising if they didn’t once in a while.” 

A muffled noise sounded in the background and Ashley said, “I gotta go, Abuelo. Mom is knocking on my door. She wants to know if I’m OK.” 

“All right, _mija_. I’ll talk to you later.” 

_Oh, Javi, Javi,_ Chucho thought, slowly putting the phone back on its charger. _Do not mess up this good thing you have going, Son._

  


  


  



	15. Chapter 15

When Chucho looked back, Christmas had been wonderful but January was a month he’d rather forget. He had been so hopeful that Javi had turned a corner…

But no. The Cowboys lost in the second round of the playoffs, it took Javi three weeks to get the dishwasher installed properly, the drought did not improve, his arm became free of pain but was still more or less useless, he saw Ashley only when Ginny had time to drive her over, and it was often a misery to live with Javi—not because Javi lashed out at him—he didn’t—but because Javi’s silences were a reminder to Chucho that he was failing to help. And the whiskey bottles in the trash began to increase again. 

Javi had apologized to Ginny, it seemed, but they still did not agree on her driving Brock around or feeding him in her home after school—which, Ashley reported indignantly, happened three more times. “Kids are starting to tease me about my ‘boyfriend’ coming over,” Ashley told Chucho on the phone. “I asked Miles to teach me how to punch, because I’m about ready to wallop some bigmouths.” Fortunately she didn’t get into any actual physical brawls. Ginny and Javi were still seeing each other, but neither of them seemed particularly happy. 

Chucho had to wonder what in the world that doctor was doing with Javi. Wednesdays after therapy were always terrible, whether Javi was angry or completely withdrawn…he seemed to be both pretty often. Whatever the end goal was, the current program was really putting Javi through it. 

Chucho had lived long enough to know that sometimes before something got better, it had to get worse. Chucho prayed every night that the getting better would start soon because the getting worse was pretty bad. 

  


  


  


Chucho began physical therapy before the cast was off, but the therapist said his joints and muscles were doing great. “I know you’ve been keeping them limber, Señor Peña,” said the young man, who had worked for Chucho picking watermelons on the ranch one summer years ago. 

“I haven’t been overdoing it,” Chucho felt obliged to say. 

“No, no, of course not,” said grown-up Jimmy Reiner, and grinned. 

Which was irritating, Chucho thought as Javi drove him home from Laredo. Why did everyone assume he was disobeying orders? He had been very cooperative. In fact, if Chucho did say so himself, he’d been _extraordinarily_ —

“So did they give you more exercises to do at home?” Javi asked as they pulled onto the highway. Chucho had noticed he had been wearing Ashley’s scarf with his leather jacket, even when Ashley wouldn’t see him. Javi was clearly a better man than Chucho had been back in the day. 

“Yes, they did,” Chucho said. He unfolded the papers he’d been given and smoothed them out on his knee. He read off the names of each one and what they were supposed to accomplish. 

“Oh, well that’s good,” Javi said. “That’s all stuff you’ve already been doing when you weren’t supposed to. You’re way ahead of schedule, Dad.” 

Chucho pressed his lips together and folded up the papers again carefully. He might as well save his breath. 

That evening Manny came over while the nurse staying with Bonnie. It was too cold at night for the porch, so they moved the checkers indoors, with a fresh pot of coffee at hand. 

“How is your arm feeling, Chucho?” Manny asked as he set up the board. 

“It’s getting better. Another week and the cast comes off.” 

“And you’ll have PT and such?” 

“Yes. I already started.” Chucho made his first move. 

“Good. But you were probably already using your arm anyway,” Manny said, moving his first piece too. 

Chucho put his coffee cup down with a snap. 

Manny looked up. “What?” 

“Never mind,” Chucho sighed. “It’s good to see a friendly face tonight, Manny. Thanks for coming over.” 

  


  


  


It was a relief when Chucho could finally turn the page of the calendar to February. The 3rd was circled in red—Javi drove him to Laredo to finally get his cast sawed off, then PT. Chucho knew better than to ask to drive Javi’s Jeep this soon into his freedom, but as soon as he got home, Chucho took the truck out to check the fences, just to reassure himself everything was really all right. And then he drove to town and picked up a six-pack of Tecate. He’d have gotten a case, but then Javi would raise an eyebrow at how big and heavy it was. 

The truth was his left hand, elbow, and shoulder were stiff, and his wrist felt weak. He was going to have to work especially hard on the wrist exercises before he went to bed. He wasn’t sure he could manage the tractor yet, and his goal was to be driving it by the end of the week. Even if the drought suddenly ended, it would be weeks before the grass would start to grow enough for grazing to be sufficient food, and Chucho hated seeing Javi have to do the work of feeding the animals that Chucho should be doing. 

And, of course, his pride balked at this ongoing helplessness. 

  


  


  


The sun was getting close to the horizon, though Chucho thought they would still have enough light left to finish changing the oil in the pickup, when Ginny’s car tore down the lane in a cloud of dust and pulled up by the shed. She hopped out, still wearing her waitress uniform, then Ashley did the same, looking confused. 

“Javi?” Ginny said. Javi scooted out from under the pickup, which was parked on a homemade ramp so he could squeeze under it. 

“It was you, wasn’t it?” she asked as he got to his feet, wiping his hands on a rag. Ginny didn’t wait for an answer, or for a less oil-covered Javi, but she threw herself into his arms and pulled his head down for a very thorough kiss. Ashley and Chucho exchanged an eyebrows-raised look. 

“You pulled the strings, didn’t you? To get Sam Redmond arrested?” Ginny asked breathlessly. She turned to Ashley and Chucho, not moving from Javi’s arms. “The news was all over Luis’s. The state police came and took him away this afternoon.” 

“They took their damn time,” Javi muttered. 

“Oh, Javi,” Ginny said, looking at him as if he’d hung the moon and the stars to boot. 

Chucho gave Ashley a jerk of his head and they retreated into the shed. 

“Does this mean that he’ll go to jail? Forever?” she asked. 

Chucho sighed. “It _should_ mean he’ll go to jail for many years. Not forever.” 

“But it might not?” 

“If justice has its way, it will.” 

“That’s not a definitive answer,” Ashley said, putting her hands on her hips like a miniature Ginny. 

“I don’t know how he’d get out of it now that they’ve finally found a way to bring him in,” Chucho said. 

“Does this mean Mom will stop feeding that kid my food?” Ashley asked with a sniff. 

“Probably, _mija._ ” He smiled. “And maybe you can ride your bike here after school again.” 

_“Yes!”_ Ashley exclaimed, doing a silly high-stepping victory dance. “I seriously need more Azucar time.” 

“I hope you can get some,” Chucho said, glancing out the door at Javi and Ginny, still locked in an embrace by the pickup. “Er, let’s go out the back and see if she’ll come if we stand at the fence. Back in the day, she used to come to me even when I didn’t have a treat for her, but she decided years ago that she liked Javi better, so she might not.” 

But although Azucar was coy, she did eventually come to the fence, and Chucho was able to buy some time for Ginny and Javi while Ashley crooned over her. But eventually she grew tired of the fuss and moved out into the pasture. 

Chucho and Ashley came back out to Ginny’s car, where Ginny and Javi still had their arms around each other. 

“Mom, you are never going to get those stains out,” Ashley said flatly, coming to stand behind her mother. And indeed, there were black handprints and smears all over the back of Ginny’s pale yellow uniform. 

Ginny looked over her shoulder and didn’t quite blush but closed her eyes and rested her forehead on Javi’s jaw while he looked away to hide a smile. 

“I guess I better get home and see what I can do with this,” she said, pulling away from Javi. “There’s a PTO meeting tonight anyway.” 

“Let me get you an old towel for your seat,” Chucho said. 

“I better go finish the truck before it’s completely dark,” Javi said. “I’ll call you later, Ginny.” He kissed her forehead, hands-free. 

When Chucho came back he arranged the towel on the driver’s seat for Ginny. 

“You’re a true gentleman, Don Chucho,” Ginny said, settling in. 

“I’m glad your friend will be safe now.” 

“I hope _she_ ’ll be glad,” Ginny said with a sigh. “She might be relieved to be away from him, but she might as easily figure out who’s behind it all and hate me for it. I know it’s complicated for her. But whatever happens, it’s a price I’ll happily pay to see her free of that man. Don Chucho, that could have been me. I was so young and dumb…I was lucky. Jorge was a”—she broke off, probably remembering that little pitchers had big ears, and then went on—“an ordinary guy. He wasn’t a _criminal._ Oh, and those three little kids…”

Ashley muttered something from the passenger side and Ginny rolled her eyes. “Well. Better get going. See you later, Don Chucho.” 

  


  


  


“You look very nice, Javi,” Chucho said when his son came into the kitchen in a dark suit, freshly showered, shaved, and groomed. As usual, he hadn’t buttoned his top shirt button or tightened his tie up yet. But still. 

“I hope this time we actually make it to Laredo,” Javi grumbled. 

Chucho saw past the bluster. “And Ginny gets to dance in her silver dress instead of delivering groceries?” 

“Yes. She can drink champagne and _not_ line dance.” 

Chucho chuckled. “Sounds fancy.” 

“Well, you know me, Dad. Fancy is my middle name. But this Valentine’s Ball will make Ginny happy, so…”

“So you do it. You’re a smart boy, Javi.” 

Javi grunted as he put his keys, cigarettes, and various other necessities that he’d left on the kitchen table into his pockets. “OK, Pop. I better get going—I still have to pick up the flowers and whatnot.” 

Chucho whistled. “Going all out too.” 

Javi grinned. “See you, Dad. Don’t wait up.” 

“I’m too old for that nonsense,” Chucho said with a smile. 

  


  


  


The freezer casseroles had finally run out, and Chucho realized how spoiled he’d become when he got out the flour to make empanadas and suddenly decided it was all too much work. Besides, he had an idea. 

“Hi, Ashley,” Chucho said when she answered the phone. “What are you up to tonight?” 

A big sigh greeted him. “Oh, nothing. You know what I found out today? Valentine’s Day in middle school stinks. In elementary school we had a whole big party with treats and decorations, and parents came in to help with games, and everyone got valentines from everyone else… In middle school, what happens? _Nada._ Crickets. You know what I got today, besides a stuffed animal from Mom? A candygram. One candygram. It's a big red lollipop with googly eyes with a note attached that says it’s from a secret admirer, but Tricia says she didn’t send it. And of course she got stuff from _Michael._ ” Ashley made a noise of disgust. “And tonight she’s on a ‘date’ with him. A _date._ Like _Michael_ can _drive_ them to the movies or whatever.” She snorted. “They just walk to the park or something. It’s silly.” 

Hmm. Miles at work with the anonymous candygram, it seemed. Not that there could be only one boy with a crush on Ashley. Chucho cleared his throat. He wasn’t going to think about that. “Well, since your mom is out with Javi, would you like to go to the Dairy Queen? Do you think your mom would mind? It would mean you’d have to hang out with an old guy, though.” 

“Yes!” Ashley cried. “Oh thank you! No, Mom won’t care, if it’s _you_. Oh man. Let me find my boots. I’ll be ready before you even hang up the phone. I am so in the mood for a big old sundae. Hot fudge.” 

“You’re on,” Chucho said. 

Sure enough, Ashley was ready when Chucho knocked on the apartment door. She came out wearing her Christmas cowgirl hat and boots, and Chucho was pleased that he had remembered his Christmas scarf. 

“Did you eat anything for supper?” Chucho asked as they walked down the stairs to the parking lot. 

Ashley’s dimples peeped out. “Nope. Saving room for ice cream.” 

Chucho smiled. “I didn’t either.” They shared a conspiratorial look. “No telling your mom about that part.” 

Ashley solemnly crossed her heart and climbed up into the passenger seat of the pickup. 

The DQ was hopping at this time on a Friday night—mostly teenagers and young parents Chucho didn’t quite know, though they looked familiar—but Ashley snagged a two-person booth for them while Chucho placed their orders. It was fascinating to him how this place was keeping up with the times. It definitely didn’t look the same as it had when he’d brought Javi here as a boy. 

Ashley sighed happily over her first bite of sundae. “Now this makes up for not getting Valentine-themed pencils and Pixie Stix at school.” 

“It’s better than cooking just for myself,” Chucho agreed, digging into his banana split. 

“Did you and Señora Peña ever get dressed up and go to balls and things like Mom and Javi?” 

Chucho shook his head. “Never. Can you picture it, _mija_?”

A big grin grew on Ashley’s face. “Actually, no. But you looked nice in your wedding picture. I wish I could have seen you when you went to your high school dances.” 

“I don’t think you do. I was awkward and skinny and my suit didn’t fit right.” 

Ashley giggled. “Oh well. I bet your dates didn’t care. I bet they thought you were the cat’s meow.” 

Chucho shook his head again. “Your imagination is running away with you, Ashley. They thought I was shy and clumsy. And they were right.” 

“Well, their loss,” Ashley said with a toss of her curly head. She looked exactly like Ginny when she did that. “I guess God was just keeping the field clear for Señora Peña.” 

“We’ll stick with that story.” 

“Speaking of God,” Ashley said, suddenly fidgety, “I have a question for you.” 

“OK,” Chucho said, bracing himself for something big. 

“You know my confirmation is coming up… Will you be my sponsor?” 

Chucho was taken aback. “Isn’t it usually one of your godparents, Ashley?” 

She nodded gravely. “But mine are Dad’s friends. I don’t even know them, and Mom doesn’t know where they live now.” 

Chucho was shaken again with how different Ashley’s growing-up years were from his own, or even Ginny’s, hedged in as they had both been with family and church and tradition and small-town always-the-sameness. 

“I will be glad to, _mija._ It would make me proud. You will have to let me know when all the classes are. I will come with you to them, right?” 

“Right,” Ashley said with what sounded like relief. “Not till summer though. Whew. Thanks. Father Diaz kept giving me a worried look every time this topic came up.” 

“No more worrying about _that._ ” 

“OK, now I have another question.” 

“All right. Shoot.” 

Ashley grinned. “I want to have a big party for Mom when she graduates in May. Do you think we could have it at the ranch? And will you help me? I want it to be a surprise. We’ll have to think of some excuse.” 

“That’s a good idea. She deserves a party for how hard she’s worked. And my birthday is in May. We’ll say it’s for me—it wouldn’t be lying, because I sure plan to enjoy myself too. But Ashley, I’m not exactly good at this kind of thing. We need help.” 

“I have a plan,” Ashley said. And it was a good one for a twelve-year-old. She suggested renting Tony’s huge towable pit smoker for a barbeque, and asking Wendy to help her plan the affair. She outlined ideas for decorating, food, music, and who to include in the guest list. It was clear she’d been thinking about this for a long time. 

Chucho couldn’t help wondering what else was brewing in that girl’s head. 

Chucho walked Ashley back to her door afterwards like a good date should, but once she got to the apartment, she was looking pensive. “Wait here,” she whispered when she’d unlocked the door. She came back out with a red stuffed kitten, adorned with white hearts, and a red lollipop. 

“I think Miss Lila would like these,” she said. Then she marched down the hall and knocked on the door there. 

“Hi, Miss Lila,” Ashley said when the wizened face appeared in the crack of the door. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” 

“Oh, Ashley!” the woman cried. “You come in, honey.” 

“I can’t stay—” Ashley began. 

“Come in, come in,” Miss Lila said, swinging open the door. “And who’s that with you? Oh! You bring in Chucho Peña too. I haven’t talked to him in ages. You both come right in.” 

Unfortunately at that moment, two cats zipped between her feet and made a beeline for the stairs. Ashley and Chucho spent several minutes herding them back into Miss Lila’s apartment, and there the two miscreants spent even more minutes kneading Chucho’s pants and purring at him while the other cats looked on with approval. 

Miss Lila sat holding the stuffed kitten and reminiscing about how she and Linda had been fierce rivals over the installation of the second traffic light in Hebbronville—Linda leading the pack that said the intersection was dangerous and someone was going to get killed one day, and Miss Lila leading the one that said the light was going to raise taxes too much and why couldn’t people just use the stop signs like they were meant to. 

Chucho only vaguely remembered the bitter town battle. He hadn’t participated in the furor. He thought he recalled that he’d been worried about Javi, who was a young teen, and had stayed home from the meetings in case Javi needed to talk. Javi hadn’t, and Chucho wondered now if that had just been an excuse for his own indifference to his neighbors’ concerns. He sighed. The older he got, the more flaws he discovered in Chucho Peña. 

“—your boy was here not too long ago at Christmas, Chucho,” Miss Lila was saying. “He’s a handsome devil. Doesn’t take after you at all.” 

Chucho saw Ashley swelling with indignation, taking a deep breath to spring to his defense. He said hastily as he rose, shedding cats, “Well, it’s been good visiting with you, Miss Lila. I hope you have a nice evening.” 

Once out in the hall, Chucho turned to Ashley. “That was such a kind thing to do, _mija_ , giving her your own gifts. Just what your mother would have done.” 

She looked surprised. “Oh. I was going to say just what you would have done. Well, I figure I have a mom who—even though she gives away my corn dogs to any Tom, Brock, or Harry who happens by—loves me and gives me lots of stuff. But Miss Lila doesn’t have anyone anymore. Who wishes her Happy Valentine’s Day?” 

“You do, _mija._ ” Chucho smiled at her. “I’m proud of my granddaughter.” 

  


  


  


Chucho didn’t intend to wait up for his son that night. He did stay up a little later than usual, doing his wrist exercises like he was supposed to. But mostly he was praying for Javi. 

If only, someday, Javi could live his life and grow old wrapped in a circle of love like Ginny and Ashley’s…

  


  


  



	16. Chapter 16

Chucho had met his goal of driving the tractor again, and now that he’d proven himself capable, he relieved Javi of feeding duties. In addition, it had rained three out of the last five days, and Chucho was holding out hope that it would continue. Soon, maybe, he could start the spring planting…

With his newfound free time, Javi was away from the ranch a lot more, especially on the days that Ginny had off work. Though this was a good turn of events, Chucho was still uneasy about how Javi was handling the counseling. Was Javi really ready for a serious relationship? It wasn’t his call of course, but after what had happened with Lorraine, he didn’t think anyone would blame a father for being anxious. 

  


  


  


The 24th was Javi’s birthday, and the call finally came from the last surviving clothing shop on Main Street. Chucho drove into town at lunchtime to pick up the leather jacket he’d ordered for Javi in November. It hadn’t come in for Christmas and barely squeaked in under the wire for Javi’s big day. 

“I’m sorry it took so long, Chucho,” Maisy Welker told him as she held the jacket up for him to admire. “But maybe it worked out, if today is Javi’s birthday. How old is our hometown hero now? He must be at least forty. Well, no, he’s got to be forty-one. He graduated with my Cindy. I remember when he was in high school, had that snazzy Firebird.” She whistled. “Now that was a beauty. Tell you what, Chucho. I have some gift wrap here. I’ll put it in a nice box and wrap it up for you, on the house. It’s the least I can do. And I’ll tell you something else. You’re lucky to have your boy at home for a while. I only ever see Cindy and John at Christmas and sometimes not even then. And I can’t drive out to Dallas or Houston by myself anymore. You’d hardly know I have five grandkids, would you? I barely see them. Well, here you go. Don’t party too hard at your age. I should know, I’m older than you! Keep that under your hat though, Chucho. Bye now!” 

Chucho wondered if there was anything else he should get while he was in town, but Ginny said she was bringing a cake over. Javi wasn’t going to want too much of a fuss. He was making Javi’s favorite for supper, tamales, and he’d better get home and get on that because they took a while to prep. 

  


  


  


Javi’s cell phone, thrown carelessly on the kitchen table with his keys and cigarettes, rang just as Javi came down the hall from the shower, and he hurried to pick it up. Chucho was busy wrapping the tamales. 

“Hello?... Hi, Steve—what?” A huge smile crossed Javi’s face. “A boy? Congratulations!... I don’t know, is that a good size for a baby?... All right, if you say so. Connie’s OK, blood pressure back to normal?... That’s good…. And Olivia approves of her brother?” Javi smiled again. “Well, she’s got time to adjust…. Yeah, actually, it’s my birthday today too…. Oh, you did remember—wait, what?… Steven Javier Murphy? That’s— I don’t know what to say. Thanks. That’s—” Javi cleared his throat. “Thanks, Steve.…. OK…. Yeah, a month sounds great. Dad says come anytime…. OK.” Javi pushed the button to disconnect and swallowed before he turned to Chucho. 

“Did you hear that?” 

“Some. I gather your friend Steve has a new baby boy?” 

Javi nodded. 

“Mother and son all right?” 

Javi nodded again. 

“And Uncle Javi?” Chucho asked gently. 

Chucho saw him swallow again. “I’ve got a namesake, Pop. Sort of. Does a middle name count?” 

Chucho put down the corn husk strip he was holding. “That is a great honor, Javi. Steve and Connie must think a lot of you.” 

Javi nodded and casually began to return his belongings to the pockets of his clean pants, but Chucho could tell he was moved. 

Well. Chucho resumed tying the tamales. The sooner Javi started thinking about how much he meant to other people, and how much other people meant to him, the better things would be. 

  


  


  


Two of those people came to the kitchen door a few minutes later. Ginny carefully carried a tall cake inside and set it on the table. “My finest efforts, Birthday Boy,” she said to Javi. “Seven-layer chocolate bliss: cake layer, ganache layer, crispy layer, repeat…and fudge icing. I gained five pounds just smelling it all afternoon.” 

“You both look perfect,” Javi said, sliding an arm around Ginny’s waist. Chucho turned his back on the kissing that followed to check on the tamales. Well. Things were certainly moving along. He didn’t think he’d kissed Linda in front of her parents or his father until the priest had said “You may kiss the bride.” 

“All right, break it up, lovebirds,” Ashley said, coming in the door and edging around Ginny and Javi with a fistful of balloons. “Innocent eyes of a child coming through.” The way she said it made it sound as if she was quite used to seeing them kiss. Javi and Ginny saw each other so often now that she never bothered to call Chucho to “report” anymore. 

“Happy birthday, Javi,” Ashley added, tying the balloons to the back of the chair where he usually sat. Chucho did a double take. There was a twinkle in her eye that he couldn’t quite account for. What was that girl up to? 

They discovered what it was after the tamales and cake had been consumed, and Javi had opened the box that held his new jacket. They heard a car slowly crunch down the lane, then after a minute a car door slam. Then another. Then a knock on the front door. 

Chucho opened the door to Manny—and a puppy. 

“Surprise, Javi!” Ashley crowed, falling to her knees to accept the messy dog kisses. 

Ginny covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide. 

“It’s a puppy,” Ashley said, turning back to Javi and beaming. “He’s an old puppy though. He’s been trained a bit, right, Señor Cruz?” 

“Yes,” said Manny. “Muñequita had puppies in the fall, and Miles and his dad have been house training them. This one still needed a home when Ashley mentioned to Miles that she wanted one for Javi. I knew Javi liked dogs and he’d be a good owner.” 

Javi hesitated, then reached out and scratched the dog’s ears. 

“I named him Cuddles like the _Nacimiento_ dog,” Ashley said, her dimples popping out. “But you can call him whatever you want. He’s already got his grown-up teeth, so he won’t chew as much.” 

The dog curled around and playfully tried to nip Javi’s hand, then rolled onto his stomach and waited for someone to rub his belly. 

Ashley didn’t quite seem to grasp the mood she’d introduced with the puppy, just beaming at everyone. 

Chucho cleared his throat. “That was a gift with a kind thought behind it,” he said. He waited for someone else to add an objection, but no one did. Ginny kept her hand over her mouth, and Javi sighed and reached out and rubbed the dog’s belly. 

“So what do you think, Javi?” Ashley asked. “Doesn’t _Cuddles_ have a nice ring?” 

Javi cracked a smile. “What was it I named the _Nacimiento_ dog, Dad? Killer?” 

Ashley groaned but Chucho supplied, “Bandit.” 

Javi made a face of distaste and Ashley laughed. “Well, you don’t have to decide now, Javi. We can call him Cuddles until you think of something else.” 

The puppy jumped up and raced to the door, then put his paws up on the screen door. 

“Ashley, why don’t you take him for a little run?” Ginny suggested, handing her the leash. 

Manny set two dog bowls and half a bag of puppy chow down by the door. “I’ll head out now. Happy birthday, Javi. You enjoy him. He’s a sweet little guy,” he said. 

Ashley went out with him, and as soon as she jumped off the porch with the dog, Ginny said, “Javi, I’m sorry. I had no idea what she was up to. She never breathed a word.” 

Javi sighed. “I don’t know, Ginny. Dogs are great, but…I just never pictured having one at this point in my life. I don’t even know where I’ll be, what kind of job I’ll have... And as for now—Dad, what do you think? Mom never let pets in the house.” 

“Linda’s rule,” Chucho said. “Not mine.” Like no smoking in the house. To Chucho’s mind, when Javi was smoking seemed to be the times Javi loosened up enough to talk to him. Rules could go hang if it meant Javi was at home and at ease. 

“Javi, really, it’s OK. I’ll talk to her, and maybe—”

“No, Ginny. It was—it was nice of her to do this for me. If Dad is all right with keeping an eye on him sometimes…”

“I can,” Chucho said. “We’ll have to take him out and get him used to the cows, see how he acts with the horses too.” 

Ginny and Javi went outside to the Love Nest, and Chucho thought about the puppy. Muñequita was a small collie mix—and she was an indoor dog, so she must have gotten out or something. Chucho wondered what kind of dog the father was. The puppy’s ears were so floppy…would they straighten as he got older to give him that alert look that collies had? Or would they stay bent in that very cute way? 

Ashley came in the kitchen door with the dog. “Wow, they never get tired of kissing, do they? I was going to come in the other way but I didn’t want to interrupt. You would think it would get old after a while but nooooo. I thought the telenovelas were exaggerating, but maybe they weren’t. Not that I watch those or anything. I guess kissing is like having a puppy—all good, all the time!” She knelt to take off his leash and the dog licked her face ecstatically. 

“You kept that secret so well, Ashley. You’re going to be good at planning your mom’s party.” 

“Yep. Mr. Tony said they’d love to help with a party for Mom. No charge for the smoker, and of course he can get the meat wholesale. He said just let him know how many people and he’ll get the right amount. And you have to pay him back.” Ashley grinned. “And Miss Wendy and I have already made a list of other food, and she said she’ll work up most of it for no charge, because she’s not a skinflint like Mr. Tony.” 

“ _Mija,_ you are good at this.” 

“I think I just might be. Now, you need to give me a list of people you’d like to invite since it’s sort of half your birthday shindig. Oh, and Javi’s in on it too. He told me we have to invite the rest of your ‘crew’ besides Tony, and Señor Cruz, and his aunt Ranza and his cousins.” 

“OK,” Chucho said, trying to ignore the dollar signs flashing in his head. 

“I’m not sure we’ll be able to keep the party a secret with that many people coming, but maybe if we all pretend it’s for you, we can get away with it. It will be so much fun for Mom,” Ashley said. “She’s never had a party like this just for her. I want it to be just the happiest—”

At that moment, Ginny and Javi came back inside, and Ginny reminded Ashley it was a school night and she had to get home. Ashley groaned but she hugged the dog goodbye and went out after wishing Javi happy birthday again. Ginny too wished Javi happy birthday again on the porch with yet another a long kiss, and then Javi came back inside. He looked at the dog and sighed. “I guess we need to find him a bed, Dad.” 

  


  


  


It was a good thing the puppy was adorable. 

Even though he and Javi had made him up a nice cozy bed in an old wooden crate filled with a frayed rug, an old blanket, and a fuzzy towel, the puppy whimpered and whined the better part of the night. Javi’s door stayed closed. Chucho wondered if he really was just sleeping or if his heart was actually that hard. 

Well, Chucho wasn’t sleeping and his heart wasn’t hard. Finally at about 2 a.m. he called the puppy into his room. Without hesitation, he jumped up on Chucho’s bed, turned in a circle, and collapsed. Chucho reminded himself to call Manny tomorrow to see if the dog had had any kind of flea and tick treatment… 

He looked over at the ball of fur lying on Linda’s side of the bed and imagined the exactly one dozen fits that Linda would pitch if she knew there was a puppy on her pillow. 

“Don’t get used to this,” Chucho said to the dog. 

The puppy heaved a huge sigh and didn’t bother to open his eyes. 

Chucho wasn’t fooling anyone. 

  


  


  


It was supposed to rain on Wednesday, so while Javi was in San Antonio on Tuesday Chucho took the tractor out to fertilize the little oddly shaped field across the main road. The quality of the hay had been steadily declining there and it needed a leg up. 

But the forecasted rain didn’t come. 

And as usual on Wednesdays, Javi was in an unpleasant mood. After supper, Javi crashed on the living room couch with a cigarette while Chucho put the dishes in the dishwasher. Chucho could see the puppy making playful overtures at Javi’s hand, hanging carelessly off the edge. Chucho watched as Javi pushed the puppy away not once, not twice, but three times. 

Chucho started the machine as the puppy walked into the kitchen, head and tail drooping. 

_Oh, I can relate, little guy._

Chucho sat down in a kitchen chair and held out his hand, and the puppy ran into Chucho’s caresses. 

The uneasiness Chucho had been feeling settled into a cold weight in his stomach. He thought back to Javi’s birthday on Monday. Javi had not thanked Ashley for the present of the dog, though he had not rejected it either. At least not outright. But what he had witnessed just now shook him badly. If Javi, who had always liked dogs, would not take a puppy into his heart, how would he have room for a wife, and a teenage daughter, who would need so much more from him? 

_“Dogs are great,”_ Javi had said to Ginny, _“but…I just never pictured having one at this point in my life. I don’t even know where I’ll be, what kind of job I’ll have.”_

_I, I, I._ No _we._

Chucho looked down at the dog. The big dark eyes looked up at him mournfully, reminding him inexplicably of Javi. 

“Come on up, Cuddy,” he said softly, clicking his tongue. The puppy eagerly jumped onto his lap and laid his head on Chucho’s knee. 

_Oh God…_ , Chucho’s prayer began, but it faltered. 

Chucho smoothed down the dog’s fluffy fur. _Oh God…help me be the father Javi needs._

  


  


  


Though Cuddy had made friends with Azucar, the rest of the horses ignored him, and he had a tendency to herd the cows when they didn’t need to be herded. He had to be shut in the shed later in the week when the truck came to take the cows to market. 

It was a long and tiring day, because understandably the cattle were reluctant, after a while, to go into the chute that took them onto the truck. He and Javi and the guys from the hauling company were exhausted by the time the truck was full. 

But afterwards, when Ashley came coasting down to the corral after school on her bike, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, Javi still took the time to help her saddle Azucar and even let her try it solo for short spurts while he stood at the fence. Chucho, hauling the water that they hadn’t gotten to earlier in the day, could hear her laughing objections as Javi was no doubt teasing her about something. 

It warmed his heart, but it couldn’t quite dispel his anxiousness. 

  


  


  


March came in like a lion on Saturday in the form of storms and hail. There wasn’t much that could be done outside after the daily chores were done, and Javi had already gone to the house. Chucho stayed in the shed with Cuddy—which seemed to have become his name, since Javi hadn’t picked another—and tried to mend Azucar’s saddle where some of the stitching had come loose, but with the wind howling, the lights flickering, and the noise of the hail on the tin roof, Chucho soon gave up. He and Cuddy climbed into the pickup and drove up to the porch so they could make a run for its shelter. 

No sooner had they reached the door of the house than the hail stopped, though the rain still came in sheets. Javi stepped out the door just as Chucho reached for it. 

“Do you think the hail’s done for good?” Javi asked, squinting out into the storm and turning up the collar of his new leather jacket. 

“Probably,” Chucho said. “Better not keep Ginny waiting.” 

Javi grinned. “Hey, can I use the truck? I don’t need anything fancy since we’re staying in, and the Jeep is way out there in the shed…”

Chucho tossed him the keys and Javi caught them before stooping to pet Cuddy. But Cuddy chose that moment to shake himself dry, and Javi recoiled. 

As Javi drove off, Chucho looked down at the puppy sternly. “That was rude, young man. He might not pet you much but he feeds you every day.” 

Cuddy wagged his tail and panted unrepentantly. 

  


  


  


It was drizzling again in the morning. Chucho went to church but skipped Luis’s to get back to the ranch and inspect the fences. There was just enough mist to make the day miserable without helping the drought very much. Chucho slipped on the mud down by the river as he was setting up a new pole, but didn’t lose his footing. Still, he was not sorry to see Javi’s Jeep rolling to a stop by the fence not long after. 

“You know, you can just ask me for help,” Javi said. 

“Too stubborn,” Chucho answered, smiling a little. 

Javi put his hands on his hips. “I didn’t even know you were out here till I got to Luis’s and you weren’t there. Ginny had Don Manuel’s order ready, so I took it to him before I came out here.” 

“That was nice of you two.” 

They worked in silence for a while. They seemed to have developed a rhythm during Chucho’s convalescence. 

“I’m going to start plowing the north field by the road tomorrow, I think.” 

Javi grinned. “Is that asking for help?” 

“Yes,” Chucho said. “I guess it is, though I can do it myself.” 

“I noticed that right front tire on the 1030 is looking a little flat, Dad. Better check it first.” 

Sure enough, when Chucho went out in the morning, the tire was low. He had to take it off and coat it with soapy water to find the leak, then see if he could plug it. Cuddy soon came trotting out to join him near the barn, tags jingling. Javi followed with a travel mug of coffee. 

“New collar?” Chucho asked, nodding at the dog. 

“Yeah,” Javi said, “and proper tags. And Dad, I’m taking him to the vet to get fixed tomorrow morning before I go to San Antonio. You’ll have to keep him shut in the house for a while till he heals up a little. Maybe in there with the washer so he doesn’t try to jump up on anything.” 

“All right,” Chucho said, turning his attention back to the tire as Cuddy nosed it over. “How long does that last?” 

“A week, maybe? I’ll find out, I guess.” Javi sighed, sounding tired. “Seems like something always needs to be fixed, whether tires or dogs.” 

_Or broken things inside,_ Chucho thought. But all he said was, “That’s how life works, Son.” 

  


  


  


When Ginny came to drop Ashley off the following Saturday and heard they were going to clean out the craft room so little Olivia Murphy could sleep there, she volunteered to stay and help. When the house was built, it had been part of the largest of the four bedrooms, but when Chucho’s father put in the bathroom he had cut the room in half. It was small now for a bedroom. It had been Javi’s nursery back in the day, but when he grew out of the crib Linda had claimed the room for her own, and during her Girl Scout leader days she had used it constantly. 

It made Chucho a little sad to see it now, with the sewing machine covered up and the boxes of supplies gathering dust. But Ginny briskly dived into the job, and there wasn’t much time for sentimentality. Chucho did peek into each box before she ruthlessly hauled them out, and he ended up taking quite a few of the boxes full of yarn and whatnot out to Ginny’s car for her. The sewing machine went up into the attic (yes, Chucho assured them, he was allowed to lift heavy things now), and the daybed cover and sheets went into the washing machine. Then she took them out and hung them on the clothesline because, Ginny insisted, everything smelled best dried with sunshine. Even the pillows and curtains were laundered under Ginny’s regime. Ashley vacuumed and Ginny wielded the feather duster and there was hardly anything left for Chucho to do. He did find some Windex and took on the windows. He had to admit, with the spring sunlight streaming in the bare windows, that the room looked much more cheerful. 

Ginny stood in the doorway afterwards with her hands on her hips and gave it a nod of approval. “Don’t forget to bring the bedding in off the line later, Don Chucho,” she said, turning to him with a smile. 

He knew perfectly well that she had whisked him on purpose through cleaning up Linda’s things with hardly any time to think so that he wouldn’t wallow in his memories. If God had asked him what kind of daughter he’d have wanted, he would have put in an order for one just like Ginny. He was about to tell her so, but she was already rolling the vacuum cleaner back toward its home in the hall closet. 

Ashley saw Javi heading back to the house from the barn with Cuddy at his heels and she burst out the front door to greet them. 

“How is your friend Mrs. Redmond doing these days, Ginny?” Chucho asked as they waited for the others to come in. 

“My ‘friend’? That’s pushing it.” Ginny sighed. “Mindy won’t talk to me, but that’s okay because everyone else jumped in to help once Sam went out of the picture. They desperately needed someone at the cafeteria at the high school so they offered her the job. One of the church ladies—Betsy somebody?—picks her up and takes her home every day.” 

“Doesn’t she drive?” Chucho asked. “Or I guess I should ask if she has a vehicle that works.” 

Ginny shrugged. “She had just gotten her license when she got married, but honestly I haven’t seen her drive since.” 

Chucho knew Sam had once had an old pickup. Maybe he could ask Betsy Silva to find out if Mindy Redmond would be willing to let Chucho try to fix it for her. He knew firsthand how hard it was to accept other people doing things for you, but maybe a once-and-done vehicle repair would be preferable to depending on someone else for a ride every day. 

“—realize I’m naïve, but I’ve been wondering how many other people are living in the same situation but no one knows,” Ginny was saying sadly. “Everyone knew about the Redmonds because Redmonds, but how easy it is to hide sometimes…”

“Sounds like something you are well suited to make better, Ginny Gutierrez, soon-to-be bachelor of science in criminal justice.” 

A slow smile grew on Ginny’s face. “Yeah. Don Chucho, you might be on to something there.”

  


  


  



	17. Chapter 17

Just after Chucho got home from church on Good Friday, the Murphys arrived in a rented minivan, looking harassed and exhausted. Steven Javier was howling his head off, and Olivia, sniffing dolefully, refused to climb out of her car seat.

Javi surprised Chucho by hugging Steve as soon as he got out of the car and then looking around for Connie, but, already distracted, she was hustling the baby into the house behind Chucho.

Chucho showed Connie to the guest room so she could feed the baby and try to get him to sleep in peace, and then he let Cuddy out of the house. Naturally the dog made a beeline to the open car door, and Olivia suddenly couldn’t get out of her seat fast enough.

Eventually the noise and confusion resolved itself into Javi and Steve (who looked like he had a headache) sitting in the rockers on the front porch, smoking, supposedly watching Olivia (and the dog), while Connie stayed in the kitchen with the sleeping baby strapped to her in some kind of swath of fabric and helped Chucho make supper. It was nice to get to know Connie and persuade her to call him Chucho instead of Mr. Peña. He got a better understanding of what it had been like in Colombia after an hour of talking to Connie than he had managed to pry out of Javi in ten years.

Chucho had somehow expected Steve to look and act different—more aggressive and hardnosed. He looked, frankly, like a naïve, unassuming suburban dad. Chucho and Javi seamlessly switched back and forth between English and Spanish at home, and he’d assumed that Connie and Steve could do the same. But after some blank looks, he’d discovered that their Spanish was only the most basic. How had they lived in Colombia all those years? So seeing Steve and Javi together, one looking like the boy next door playing grown-up in his father’s clothes, and the other whose diapers he’d changed and nose he’d wiped, Chucho second-guessed if it could really be true that they’d been the DEA agents to take down the biggest drug king in the world.

But most of all, Chucho couldn’t help wondering how this one person seemed to have gotten through Javi’s guard during those very years when Javi was growing as remote as the moon to his father.

Whatever the case, Chucho was grateful that Javi had one lifelong friend, at least. And he hoped Ginny would be another.

After a night punctuated with the cries of a baby, Chucho welcomed Ginny and Ashley’s arrival the next day to meet the Murphys. Chucho wondered what Javi had told them about Ginny. He could tell Steve and Connie were both very curious about this woman, but whatever they saw they seemed to approve of, and it was only about twenty minutes until Ginny and Connie had their heads together talking in the corner, Ginny holding the sleeping baby. Connie was whispering that Olivia would not stop sucking her thumb and how could they break her of the habit? _Chatter chatter._ But Chucho noticed that after this, Connie always called him Don Chucho like Ginny did.

Javi did not appear to know quite what to think of the baby. Stevie, as his parents called him, was too little to interact much, and if he wasn’t sleeping he was most likely crying. When Stevie had first been held up for Javi’s inspection, Javi had gotten a strange smile on his face and given Stevie’s cheek a gentle caress with one finger. Unfortunately Stevie had burst into tears immediately afterward, so the opportunity for making friends was lost. Things went slightly better with Olivia. When her mother asked if she remembered Uncle Javi, she nodded uncertainly and gave his leg a swift hug, but then she ran off to find Cuddy before he could do more than pat her head.

Olivia and Ashley, however, were instant pals, especially since Cuddy would come to play if Ashley called. Chucho was glad she didn’t consider herself too old to play with a little child like Olivia.

All this bonding left Chucho free to do the ranch work, which had to be done whether visitors arrived or not.

But coming back across the south field on the tractor later, he saw with a sinking feeling that Javi and Steve were standing looking out over the river where the armed boats went by. Javi was gesturing emphatically, his mouth moving angrily, while Steve looked thoughtfully down at the river, hands on his hips.

Before lunch, Ashley persuaded Javi to let her show off some of her equestrian skills to the guests. Chucho, Ginny, and Connie clapped and cheered (though to be frank she still was a rank beginner), and Olivia and Steve followed suit. But Chucho noticed that Steve spent the performance not focused on Ashley but rather looking now and again in a puzzled or maybe just speculative way at Javi, who was standing off at the edge of the fence out of the limelight and only assisting Ashley when necessary.

Chucho was grateful that Ginny had shouldered some of the load of hospitality by taking Connie and the kids out for some sightseeing in the minivan in the afternoon and then doing the preliminary cooking for supper. He knew Javi would help a bit, but he was rather dreading Sunday when she had to work.

But before Chucho left for church Easter morning, a sleepy-eyed Javi got up to tell him they’d join him at Luis’s for lunch.

And the town, though it was a bit complacent now about their own home-grown hero, had not forgotten that there were _two_ DEA agents involved in taking out Escobar, and a steady parade of folks—Chucho’s crew no exception—left their Easter dinners to come by their table at the café to shake Steve’s hand, and Connie’s too if she had one available at the moment.

Stevie was not happy in all the bustle and set up a wailing that had Connie wincing. She passed him to Steve, and Steve passed him to an astonished Javi. “He’s dry, he’s fed—I don’t know what’s wrong,” Connie said.

“Better let Dad handle it,” Javi said, passing the hot potato and looking relieved to do it. With Connie’s permission, Chucho took the baby outside and walked him behind the café where it was quiet enough that they could hear the cottonwood leaves rustle in the breeze. The baby calmed down and though he didn’t go to sleep, his whole tiny body relaxed enough that Chucho thought it was safe to take him back into the noise and clatter.

Ginny was just bringing Olivia some crayons and some paper place mats to color. “Ah, here’s the baby whisperer,” she said with a smile.

“He just needed a little break,” Chucho said. Stevie was too young to really smile, but he did coo softly when Ginny talked to him.

Chucho handed the baby to Javi as he sat down, before Javi had time to object. Steve wordlessly showed him how to support the baby’s head. Javi and his namesake looked at each other cautiously for several moments. Chucho watched Javi’s face soften, but then across the café someone dropped a glass that smashed, and Stevie startled, then his face crumpled. Steve had whisked the baby out of Javi’s hands and had him up against his shoulder, patting his back, before Javi even blinked.

Well, that was too bad. Chucho would have liked to see Javi bond with the baby. It would do his son worlds of good.

Stevie had long since been put to bed and Chucho had settled into his chair. It was still that awkward time of year between the end of football and the beginning of baseball, so there wouldn’t be much on TV. Before Chucho could decide whether it was worth reaching for the remote or not, around the corner came Olivia Murphy, wearing pajamas that boasted chicks, frolicking lambs, and baby bunnies, and looking well-scrubbed from her bath. He noticed she was wearing tiny Easter egg earrings, and she was carrying two books.

“Read me a story?” she asked shyly.

Chucho recognized this time-honored bedtime stalling tactic—Javi had usually had a stack of books so big he could hardly carry them—but wild horses couldn’t have made him refuse.

Olivia climbed up onto his lap and stuck her thumb in her mouth, then handed him the first book.

“If you give a mouse a cookie,” Chucho began, “he’s going to ask for a glass of milk….”

When Steve came into the room a minute later, Olivia had the nerve to grin at him around her thumb.

No matter what age, kids knew how to exasperate their parents.

Monday morning, very early, the Murphys had somehow managed to herd their small family and belongings into the rented car. Connie was buckling the little ones into their seats, and Javi had to pick up Cuddy, who had managed to get out of the house and was now trying desperately, all four legs plus tail working furiously, to get into the car with Olivia. Chucho took advantage of the moment to speak to Steve on the other side of the minivan.

“Thank you for being such a good friend to Javi when he needed one, Steve.”

Steve ground out his cigarette butt with his boot in the gravel of the lane. He paused for a moment before he said, “Javi is not an easy man to get close to. Ginny has her work cut out for her. Ashley too.”

“I know.”

They shared a look of understanding and Steve said, “Being here surrounded by people who care about him is probably the best thing that could have happened to Javi.”

“I hope and pray you’re right.”

“Well, I usually am,” Steve said with a boyish grin, and Chucho chuckled and they shook hands goodbye.

Tuesday Ashley biked over after school. The house and even the ranch had been incredibly quiet after the Murphys left, and with Javi in San Antonio today, Chucho welcomed Ashley’s presence with relief. They walked down to the corral fence and coaxed Azucar over to them. (It took some persuading as it always did, unless it was Javi who called her.) She submitted to being petted and fussed over for several long minutes, then she blew affectionately in Ashley’s face and moved off. Ashley didn’t sigh as she usually did. She seemed preoccupied.

Chucho waited in silence, and then it finally came out.

“Mom sat me down last night and asked me how I’d feel about it if she married Javi.”

“Oh yes?” Chucho prompted, trying to tamp down a premature surge of hope.

“Yeah. She said he hasn’t said anything, but…she wanted to make sure she knew where I stood in case he should ask.”

“And what did you say, _mija_?”

“I said I like him a lot, and if she loves him, she should marry him,” Ashley said.

Chucho hesitated, then said, “That sounds like what she wanted to hear, Ashley. But is that how you really feel?”

Ashley pursed her lips. “I think so. I do like Javi, and I want Mom to be happy. And boy howdy, would she be happy if she married Javi. Sometimes even now she walks around smiling and humming to herself like she’s in a beautiful dream. You know that song that goes ‘to know know know him is to love love love him’? That’s the one she hums. It’s embarrassing.”

“But?”

“But… Abuelo, he still seems sad underneath. Wouldn’t you want to start your marriage out being happy? I mean, I know Javi isn’t going to go around singing like a Disney princess, but still… Well, maybe I’m just dumb. I don’t know anything about husbands.”

“You’re not dumb, Ashley. You’re very perceptive.” Chucho sighed. “I’m worried about Javi for the same reason.”

“Really? It’s not just me?”

Chucho shook his head.

“When you were going to get married, what were you like?”

Chucho couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. “Well, after I got over the fright of asking Linda to marry me, and then after I got over the shock that she said yes…”

Ashley lifted her eyebrows expectantly.

“Well, _mija,_ I hope you won’t tell anyone, but I went around singing like a Disney princess.” He wasn’t sure exactly what that meant, but he had a pretty good idea it was exactly how newly engaged Chucho Peña had acted when no one was around.

Ashley burst out laughing. “What, did all the cows and horses and chickens and stuff join in?”

Chucho chuckled too. “ _Mija,_ if you’d ever heard me sing, you’d know the answer to that.”

She giggled for a bit longer. “You made me feel a little better, Abuelo. I guess we will wait and see. I know Javi goes to see that psychiatrist guy every week, so maybe he will help.”

“Maybe,” said Chucho, but he was entertaining serious doubts that the therapist was the answer.

And indeed, whatever had gone on in the session in San Antonio put Javi in a foul mood Wednesday. Maybe, Chucho thought as he poured Javi a cup of coffee, combined with the Murphys’ visit, there was just an overdose of memories of Colombia.

He was so tempted to ask Javi how Steve was handling everything that had happened there—after all, it had been Steve who recommended this therapist so he must have some experience with counseling—but of course it was none of Chucho’s business. Steve, though he seemed as tired as a parent of an infant often was, didn’t have that edginess that Javi always had just under the surface.

“Thanks, Pop,” Javi mumbled when Chucho handed him the cup. They didn’t exchange any more words until after Javi had helped him attach the corn planter to the tractor. Chucho thanked him, and about ten minutes later he saw Javi taking the Jeep down toward the river.

Chucho sighed and sent up a prayer for Javi, but there was work to be done. It was April, and he’d hardly done half the planting he wanted to.

It was a difficult week. Javi seemed miserable, though to his credit he did seem to be trying not to be. Chucho was just dropping off to sleep Saturday night when he heard Javi come in after his usual date with Ginny. Chucho squinted at the clock. 11:30? That early? Then he heard the back door open and close. Was Javi going back out? Or just out onto the veranda?

Cuddy raised his head and pricked his ears, then jumped off the bed and nosed his way out the door to investigate, but he soon came back and settled down. Not so Chucho, who was now wide awake.

Something was really wrong with Javi.

Tuesday evening Chucho had finished his solitary meal. He wasn’t quite as good as Javi was at packing the dishwasher full, but he did have to admit that, now that it was not leaking everywhere, he sort of liked the machine. But still, some things didn’t fit easily. The coffee pot, for instance. Chucho had washed it by hand and stacked it and the filter in the drainer to air dry when the kitchen door opened and Javi came in.

Chucho did a double-take. Yes, there was Javi with a cigarette in his mouth, holding two bottles of whiskey, on therapy night.

“Isn’t it Tuesday?” Chucho asked.

“Tuesday? Tuesday?” Javi said. He went on to describe in no uncertain terms what Tuesday could go and do.

So. Javi had already been drinking. Really should not have been driving.

Chucho carefully wrung out the dishrag and hung it over the faucet, then sat down at the table. Maybe Javi would sit down too.

“You know what day it is, Dad? It’s not Tuesday. No. It’s Pain Day. That’s what Tuesday is.”

Chucho waited in silence until Javi met his eyes and then he said, “And how is that different from any other day of the week, Javi?”

They looked at each other for a long moment, then Javi sat abruptly in the chair across from him. After setting the bottles down, he took a long drag on his cigarette and closed his eyes. Finally he said, “I quit seeing the shrink, Dad.”

Chucho didn’t say anything.

Javi kept puffing with his eyes closed. “A guy in Colombia, a friend I would maybe call him, said that when you sell your soul to the devil, you’re not allowed to ask for it back.”

He blew a long breath of smoke toward the ceiling. “I’ve been asking for it back anyway, Dad.” He kept his gaze on the overhead light, where a fly was buzzing around, trapped inside the glass.

When he spoke again, it was in a whisper. “And the devil’s not giving it up.”

Anger surged up in Chucho. “I’m going to tell you something, Javier. He’s not getting my son. Not as long as I’m around to fight for him.”

Javi’s gaze dropped to Chucho, and he nodded. Then he rested his forehead on the heel of his hand and began to cry, silently. Chucho reached across the table and gripped Javi’s other arm.

They stayed like that for a long while until Javi was able to speak again, hoarsely. “When I told Ginny today that I quit counseling, she broke up with me.”

The shock hit Chucho with probably the same force as it had hit his son.

How could she do this to Javi?

And Chucho had been so worried that Javi would break _her_ heart! He had _trusted_ her! He—

 _“Don Chucho, I love him so much and he is hurting so bad.”_ Ginny’s words in the hospital came back to him. _“I don’t know what to do. What can I do? If I could really help him somehow, I would. Oh, I would.”_

Suddenly Chucho understood.

He was always bragging that Ginny was as tough as nails. She was proving it. Despite going around humming to herself in a beautiful dream, she was willing to give all that up to force Javi to face his choices, if that would help him heal.

Was tough love what Javi needed though? Chucho didn’t know.

Javi’s voice, broken like Chucho had never heard it, went on. “She said if I give up on myself, that’s giving up on _us._ ”

Chucho tightened his hold on Javi’s arm. There was nothing to say to that since it was true.

“How did I get here, Dad? Where knowing she’s not going to be there, that I can’t talk to her, hurts more than anything else?”

 _You got here because you love her,_ Chucho thought. He knew now what he needed to say to Javi.

“Why don’t you ask her if she’ll go with you to the therapy sessions?”

Javi raised his head. “Didn’t you hear me? She won’t see me.”

“I heard you. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Dad, even if she would talk to me and by some miracle agreed, she can’t just go with me. It’s not _couples_ counseling, and besides, she doesn’t have security clearance to get in there.”

“She can be there for you when your sessions are over.”

Javi stubbed out his cigarette on an old canning jar lid Chucho had left on the table, then put both palms over his eyes. “She doesn’t deserve this.”

“Javi, if you are serious about her, if you want her for a partner, you need to understand something. Love means you share the ugly stuff, the hard things, too.

“I never told you about this before. Your mother didn’t want you to know, but I’m going to tell you now. When you were a little guy, your mom…she went off the rails. Her mother had just died, and at the funeral it became pretty obvious that your _tia_ was getting beat up by her boyfriend at the time, though she kept denying it. Right on the heels of all that came the results of the test that said there wouldn’t be any more children after you. Your mother—it was all too much for her. She slept in the guest room, started drinking. It gave me a turn just now to see you come in with a bottle of Sierra Norte—that was her drink of choice. One day I came back to the house for lunch and found her passed out on the couch. You had climbed up on the kitchen counter and were eating sugar out of the cannister—and right next to you was the big block of knives. I thank God you never turned your attention there. So then I started taking you with me all day, and let me tell you, it’s hard to work a ranch with a toddler in tow. But even though the worst of it lasted most of the year, we got through it. Your mom agreed to go with me to talk to a priest in Laredo (she couldn’t abide our Father Tomas, but we won’t get into that). She turned the corner, though it took a while. She decided she needed to fight hard for you and me. But you see, you can’t share love—lasting love—without sharing pain, without working through it together.

“Javi, hard things and ugly stuff won’t scare Ginny. If you let her share them, it will make all the difference.”

Javi fumbled for another cigarette and lit it. His hand was shaking. “I can’t ask her to do that.”

“Your instinct is to protect, Son. I understand that. But you will have to go against that instinct this time. ‘Protecting’ Ginny from what you’re going through is the worst thing you could do to your relationship.”

“Dad, _I_ have to deal with this.”

“You do. It’s your responsibility. But you can let her carry some of your burden alongside you. I couldn’t make choices for your mom, but I could make it easier for her to make the right ones.”

Javi rubbed his eyes, rubbed his mouth. “I don’t know, Dad…”

“Javi, you have been doing this alone for too long. You need to let her walk through it with you. I promise you, Son, that if she loves you, she _wants_ to share it. Wouldn’t you do the same for her?”

Chucho let that sink in for a few moments before he added, “Let Ginny decide whether she ‘deserves’ to go through this with you. Don’t decide for her.”

Javi ran a hand over his face and up through his hair. “I don’t know. I don’t know, Dad. I need to think through this when I’m sober.”

“That would be the best time,” Chucho said dryly. “But don’t wait too long, Son.”

Javi stood as Chucho did, but rather unsteadily. “Dad?”

Chucho turned back to him, and Javi hugged him, tight.

Chucho couldn’t remember the last time his adult son had hugged him, but it felt right. Chucho held him as close as he could, ignoring the tears that sprang to his eyes.

Finally Javi pulled away. “OK, Dad. Good night.” He walked out with his cigarettes toward the veranda.

Chucho stood for a minute in the kitchen, trying to get hold of his emotions. Eventually he was able to take a deep breath and blow it back out again. His gaze fell on the bottle of Sierra Norte. Leaving the Jack Daniel’s alone, he picked up the other bottle, opened it, and poured it down the sink. Then he washed it down with hot, scalding water before he put the empty bottle gently on the counter, turned off the light, and went to his room to get down on his knees and pray.

The next morning was clear and cool for April, and Chucho had opened the window over the sink to let the breeze in while he brewed a pot of coffee. He had never heard Javi come in, and he wondered if he’d paced the veranda all night. Chucho had been awake most of the night himself, and the first sip of java was like water in the desert.

He could at least do Javi’s chores for him. He filled the dog’s water bowl, and then the food dish, and the puppy came running at the sound. Chucho took a moment to rub his fuzzy ears. You had to keep on loving your family even when your world was falling apart. _Especially_ when your world was falling apart.

Chucho didn’t mean to overhear Javi on his cell phone outside through the open window…but he wasn’t sorry that he did.

“Hi, Ginny. It’s Javi. Thanks for…for taking my call. Could we talk? Face to face, I mean.... Oh, right…. No, that’s OK, I understand. I forgot what day it was…. All right. Want me to pick you up there then?... OK…. Ginny? Thank you…. OK.”

Chucho’s palms had broken out into a sweat on Javi’s behalf, but it sounded like she was willing to talk. Thank God.

Chucho had to sit down on a kitchen chair.

_Thank God._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case you all are wondering, the picture of Bianca Santos in this ad is pretty much exactly how I picture Ginny. <https://www.brevityjewelry.com/blogs/press/bianca-santos>
> 
> And this picture of Jenna Ortega is how I picture Ashley, except with curly hair. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenna_Ortega#/media/File:Jenna_Ortega_2020.jpg>


	18. Chapter 18

Javi left to pick Ginny up as soon as her shift at the café was over Wednesday. Chucho had gone out to work in the morning and he didn’t know whether Javi had slept at all during the day. He doubted it. 

Ashley called him while he was making supper for himself. 

“How are you, Abuelo?” Ashley asked. She sounded tired. They probably all were. 

“I am worn out, Ashley. And you?” 

A loud sigh came over the phone. “Me too. I wanted to call you last night, but…well, Mom needed me.” 

“You’re a good daughter, _mija._ ”

Another loud sigh. “This love business…it stinks. I was in my room and I didn’t even know what was going on until it was all over. Mom was super calm until Javi was gone and then, bam. I don’t know if Mom cried that hard when she broke up with Dad, but I don’t know how anyone could stand doing it twice in their life.” 

Poor innocent Ashley had no idea how many times life could hit you like that. Well, ignorance was bliss. 

“But then you should have seen her face when she heard Javi’s voice on the phone this morning. It was like the sun came out. Or maybe a supernova. That’s brighter, isn’t it?” 

A yawn came over the line before he could respond. “Sorry, Abuelo. I’m pooped. Mom made me go to school today since she was going to work, and I really should have stayed home and had a nap instead. Since Mom and Javi are talking again, that means they’re going to get back together, right?” 

“I sure hope so, _mjia_. I can’t take much more of this.” 

“Me neither. I’d kind of like to go cry myself, but if they’re not breaking up after all, it doesn’t seem worth the effort. But seriously, Abuelo… What in the world are we going to do if they can’t work this out?” 

“We are going to pray that they do,” Chucho said firmly. 

  


  


  


After Chucho got ready for bed, instead of going into his room, he sat in his chair in the living room. Cuddy jumped onto his lap and curled up. Petting him, Chucho tried to stay awake, but it was a losing battle after his long night yesterday. 

Javi coming in the front door woke him. 

“Well, this is a flashback to 1973, Pop.” Javi looked down at him with a faint smile. “Waiting up?” 

Cuddy lifted his head and gave Javi a perfunctory wag of his tail before closing his eyes and settling down again. 

“Worried sick.” Chucho heard his words slur a bit with sleep. “Are you back together with Ginny?” 

Javi sat down heavily on the couch across from him. “Yeah. I don’t know why, but she still wants to be with me.” He leaned his head back on the cushions behind him. “I agreed to go back to the shrink, of course. And you were right, Dad. She said she’d go with me. I told her what it would be like, but she said it would be worse watching me try to go it alone again.” 

Javi rubbed his eyes with one hand. “I don’t know, Dad. We’ll see how this goes. After she finds out some of the things I’ve done, she might want nothing more to do with me, and I wouldn’t blame her. I know one thing though: I was getting absolutely nowhere without her.” 

Chucho nodded. He was too tired to think of much else to say. 

But Javi was still going strong. And if Javi wanted to talk, Chucho would prop his eyelids open with toothpicks if he had to. 

Javi continued looking up at the ceiling. “Dad…thanks for telling me about Mom yesterday. I’ve wondered how it was possible that someone like me came from someone like you, solid as a rock. I guess I take after her.” 

“Javi, until the day she died, your mother was ashamed of neglecting you for that stretch of time. I hope I did right to tell you after all—I know you only remembered how good a mom she was to you the rest of your growing-up years. But I thought you should know that she and I went through it together. And if I’m solid, it’s because she helped me, oh, every day, Javi. It wasn’t until she was gone that I realized how often she carried me, pushed me outside of myself into life.” 

Javi had returned his gaze to Chucho, and he nodded slowly. Then he said, “Don’t think I didn’t notice, Dad, that you were talking about more than one kind of love and sharing burdens. Thank you for walking alongside me. Trying to help me be a better man, no matter how stubborn I am. I can never repay that.” 

“Son, love isn’t a thing you ‘repay.’ It’s a thing you return. But if it was, you repay me every day, just being my Javi.” 

Javi stood. “OK, Dad. I’ve had enough emotional scenes lately.” But he put his hand warmly on Chucho’s shoulder and squeezed gently before he turned the corner to go down the hall to his room. 

  


  


  


The following Tuesday, Ginny went with Javi to San Antonio for his therapy session. Chucho drove into town, squeaked his taxes into the post office under the deadline, then picked Ashley up after school. He’d offered to bring her to the ranch and feed her and help her with homework, then take her back at bedtime, every Tuesday. It was the least he could do for Ginny. 

He waited anxiously for Javi to make an appearance Wednesday morning. He had nearly given up stalling planting the field of sorghum, in fact had already started the tractor, when he saw Javi walking out toward him. He turned off the ignition and climbed down. 

“How was it?” 

Of course they both knew what he was talking about. 

“It was still rough, Dad. But OK, you were right. It’s…it’s _good_ having Ginny with me. Though I didn’t really want to tell her what we’d been talking about.” 

“I’m glad it was helpful, Son.” 

“It made a difference knowing that she was going to be there waiting. That she _chose_ to be there waiting.” He lit a cigarette, then shook out the match. “Dad, why was it so hard for me to understand this?” 

Chucho smiled faintly. “Javi, you’ve always been a loner. Since you were a little guy. You never liked to depend on other people. It’s hard to break the habits of a lifetime. You’re always going to default to that. You’re going to have to keep an eye on yourself. Or better yet, let Ginny help you do it.” 

Javi chuckled dryly. “Oh, if I ask Ginny to keep an eye on me, she’ll do it, Dad. Rest assured.” 

“She keeps her promises.” 

“I know.” He took the cigarette out of his mouth. “And if by that look in your eye you’re telling me I damn well better keep any promises I make to her—Dad, I’ll keep them.” 

“Good.” 

Javi took a drag on his cigarette. “Now you know, Dad. You can go to work with your mind at ease.” 

“It’s not at ease yet, Javi, but that helped.” 

“OK, Dad.” Javi shook his head and walked back toward the shed, where Cuddy pranced out to meet him. He said something to the dog that made his tail wag, and they walked in together. 

  


  


  


When Ginny came to pick up Ashley on Friday and was of course invited to stay, Chucho noticed that there were a lot more wordless looks of understanding between her and Javi. Meaningful glances across the room were a cliché, of course, but they were cliché because they were so real. And Ginny and Javi exchanged a number of them over Ashley’s head. 

After supper Ginny helped Chucho clean up and load the dishwasher while Javi and Ashley visited Azucar before the light faded. “Thanks for inviting me to your birthday party, Don Chucho. Even if it was via Javi.” 

Chucho knew quite well he was terrible at deception. His palms started to sweat. He should have thought of inviting her to “his” party, but his mind was stuck on keeping the secret of _her_ party. “Of course, Ginny. I know it’s the same day as your graduation, but I hope it’s late enough that we can all go to the ceremony in the morning and still make it back from Laredo in plenty of time for the party.” 

“It should be fine,” she said. “But it does surprise me that you’re throwing a party for yourself.” 

“Ashley talked me into it.” 

She laughed. “Now that sounds _very_ likely. She told me she was helping you and Javi and Tony and Wendy plan it. I hope you know what you started letting her run with this.” 

“Wendy says she’s impressive. She’s considering hiring her for Kathy’s wedding this Christmas.” 

Ginny laughed again. “Well, maybe she can market those skills into a career.” 

Chucho cleared his throat. “Was it OK for you going to San Antonio with Javi, Ginny?” 

Ginny bent down to put the soap tablet in the dishwasher before she answered. “It was a good idea, Don Chucho. There’s a coffee shop a few blocks away, so I can zip over with the Jeep and do my homework while I wait for him to finish. And get a nice caffeine buzz as long as I’m there. And then afterwards…we can talk.” She studied the control panel and pushed all the proper buttons to start the wash cycle. “Thank you for getting Javi to open up to me,” she said softly. 

“Ginny. In all my years, I have never been able to talk Javi into doing something he didn’t want to do.” 

She smiled mistily. “I think… I think this might really work, Don Chucho. I’m hoping.” 

He patted her hand. “You know I’ve been hoping right along with you.” 

  


  


  


_“-i, -imus, -isti, -istis, -it, -erunt,”_ Ashley said dutifully as Chucho sat down in his chair after supper the following Wednesday. It was an earlier supper than usual this time of year, since a thunderstorm had burst over their heads just as Ashley arrived. Rain was still coming down in buckets outside. Javi, lying on the couch with Cuddy snoozing on his chest, was going through Ashley’s Latin flashcards while Ashley sat on the floor by the coffee table. 

“Mom was really mad this morning,” Ashley said before Javi could read the prompt from the next card. 

“What was she mad about?” Javi asked, raising his eyebrows. 

“She was slamming the cupboard doors, banging plates onto the counter. That kind of thing. I usually make my own lunch for school but she made it for me today and hugged me but she was still muttering to herself about somebody. Christina. Except she didn’t say it like that, it was more like a hiss. I can’t think of anyone Mom would know named Christina though. Do you know a Christina?” 

At that moment Cuddy chose to wake up and slather dog kisses onto Javi’s face and he couldn’t answer, but Chucho could tell by the crooked half smile that had grown and stayed there during Cuddy’s onslaught that Javi knew exactly who Christina was, and he wasn’t sorry that Ginny was mad about her. 

  


  


  


Friday Javi began the day out of sorts and things hadn’t improved much by afternoon, when Ginny drove over with Ashley. Chucho had work to do in the shed, but he noticed that while Ashley rode Azucar, Ginny was sitting on the fence right next to Javi, her shoulder pressed against his. At dinner, Ginny held Javi’s hand under the table (and had the nerve to wink at Chucho when she caught him looking). Afterwards, as she sat in the living room and helped Ashley study for her science test, Ginny still kept one hand tucked under Javi’s elbow. 

Gestures of comfort, Chucho thought, and Javi did seem happier by the time they left. He surprised Chucho later in the evening by carrying Cuddy’s bed from the laundry room into his. “Hope you don’t mind, Pop,” he said. 

Cuddy trotted after Javi cheerfully. 

“Traitor,” Chucho said, but Cuddy only wagged his tail and followed Javi into his room. 

  


  


  


The rain kept coming all week. Chucho planted during the lightest bouts but still he ended up soaked to the skin. The weather was the talk of the town. 

“If this keeps up,” Carlo said at lunch on Sunday, “the drought will finally be over. And then first thing you know, the flood warnings will start.” 

“Regardless, it’s been a long time coming,” Tony said fervently. “Thank the Good Lord.” 

The crew raised their coffee cups. “Hear, hear.” 

As if this was a signal beacon, Ginny showed up with the coffeepot to top them off. 

“That Ginny,” said Ed after taking a long sip from his steaming mug, “is a gem.” 

“Hear, hear!” they all repeated, clinking cups again. 

“And I’ll tell you something,” Carlo said fiercely, turning to glare at Chucho, “if your Javi breaks her heart like he did Lorraine Madison’s, he will have us to deal with.” 

“He’ll have me to deal with too,” Chucho said. 

  


  


  


“That is a shame,” Chucho was saying to Ashley on Wednesday afternoon. “When I was a kid, Cinco de Mayo was an actual holiday. We never had school.” 

“I know, right? What is this world coming to?” Ashley said, shaking her head. “A full week this week, and then we have school for almost a month with no days off.” 

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I have siete de Mayo lemonade,” Chucho said. 

“Doesn’t count, but better than nothing,” Ashley sighed. 

Chucho had to dig around the leftovers to find the last bottle of lemonade in the back of the fridge. When he straightened, out of the corner of his eye he saw out the window that there was someone sitting on the veranda steps. Javi, obviously, though Chucho had thought he was out in the fields somewhere. He was smoking, as usual, but his head drooped and his shoulders slumped. He looked dejected. Not much like Javi at all. Then Ginny came around the corner of the house. She hesitated, then went and sat down next to him on the steps, one higher than Javi. She said something, and put an arm around his shoulders. Javi’s head moved, as if he was talking, but he didn’t look at her. 

Her lips moved—“Oh, Javi,” Chucho read—and she kissed Javi’s head and put her other arm around him too, pulling him close. 

And Javi, his son who didn’t allow himself to be vulnerable—not with his mother, not with sweet and gentle Lorraine, not with his father—laid his forehead on Ginny’s shoulder. She closed her eyes, put her hand in his hair, and pulled him even closer. 

Chucho’s throat tightened. Suddenly he felt as though he was trespassing on something sacred. He picked up a glass and took the lemonade into the living room. 

“Thanks, Abuelo,” Ashley said when he put them down on the coffee table beside the chocolate zucchini bread. “You always have just the right snacks for— Abuelo?” She put her hand on his arm. “Are you crying?” 

He sat down next to her on the couch. “Not yet, _mija._ ” He swallowed hard. “It’s touch and go.” 

“What’s wrong?” 

He managed a smile. “Well, we’ve been praying pretty hard for Javi, haven’t we, Ashley? For Javi and your mom. And I think our prayers are being answered, _mi nieta._ ”

Tears sprang to Ashley’s eyes too, and that was all it took. They both needed the box of Kleenex on the coffee table, even more so when Cuddy came into the room and discovered there were wet faces that needed kissing. 

  


  


  


At lunch on Sunday, Chucho noticed that Ginny had a corsage pinned to her uniform pocket. “I’m sorry you have to work on Mother’s Day, Ginny,” he said when she came to take the crew’s drink orders (as if she didn’t know them off by heart). He knew, however, that Javi and Ashley had taken her out to dinner the day before. “Did Ashley get you that flower?” 

“Yes, she did,” Ginny said proudly. “Breakfast in bed, too, though it was a little rushed. But it’s OK. I’m used to working Mother’s Day. And after my shift’s over, we have _big plans._ ”

The crew naturally inquired as to what these plans were. 

“Oh, shopping,” Ginny said airily. “ _Someone_ ’s birthday party is coming up and Ashley and I intend to find something special.” 

Chucho immediately felt guilty. He hoped she wasn’t going to buy something too expensive. 

The crew all manifested painfully artificial guffaws and too-loud teasing until she left. 

“This secret is just about killing me,” Tony said, wiping his forehead. “I’m terrible at this.” 

“Just a few more days,” said Javi, who had joined them this week. 

The crew all whispered over the many ways they’d almost spilled the beans recently, and when conversation lulled, Tony said, idly, “Javi, you look different these days.” 

They all turned to look at Javi, who raised his eyebrows. “Got a haircut,” he suggested. 

They chuckled. “No, it’s not that,” Ed said dismissively. 

And they were right. Javi did seem different somehow. 

“I know. He’s in looooove,” Carlo said as Ginny approached the table. 

Javi grinned and Ginny winked at them, grinning too, and the group passed it off with a good laugh. 

But Chucho didn’t think that was the cause. Javi, he suspected, had been in love with Ginny for months now. 

No, Chucho thought. What was different about Javi was not that he didn’t look the same. It was that the edginess was dissipating. The tension in the way he held himself was easing. 

Javi was learning to be at peace with himself. 

  


  


  


The following Wednesday Ashley biked over to the house again after school. “Mom’s studying for her final tomorrow. She says she can’t falter on the last lap,” she told Chucho, who had come into the house to refill the water jug. 

“I know she’ll do fine,” Chucho said, before chugging a glass of water brimming with ice. It was unusually hot today for this early in May. “I’m sorry, _mija_ , but we’ll have to work on party stuff after supper. I need to go back out and finish planting that field of watermelons. Want a ride on the tractor? Or you can go and try to find Javi and see what he’s up to. And you can always stay in the house and do homework till supper.” 

That got the reaction he expected, and he chuckled. “Help yourself to snacks, Ashl—”

The wall phone rang and Ashley casually answered it. “Peña residence…. Javi? Where are you?... Why are you whispering in the barn?... A surprise? All right, if you say so.… Yes, OK, I’ll come. Quiet as a mouse.” She hung up, said, “Javi says I gotta shut Cuddy in the shed!” and sped out the door. 

Chucho did not find out what the surprise was until he came back to the house at dark. But the surprise was _not_ , it seemed, that Ashley and Javi were teaching each other how to make franks and beans for supper. 

“There are _kittens_ in the barn!” she squeaked. “Javi says he’s never seen that mama cat before, so she’s probably half wild, and she’ll likely move the babies by tomorrow. But oh, Abuelo, they were so sweet! Some of them were orange-striped, and some had black and orange patches. They were all nursing, and their little eyes were not even open yet! And their ears were all folded down! They were so tiny! Javi says he thinks they’re only a few days old, right, Javi? And they made this little high-pitched sound like _mew mew_! And they climbed all over each other and shoved in to get to the best feeding spots even though they couldn’t see. And the mama just lay there looking wise and keeping a wary eye on us.” 

“They sound cute,” said Chucho, who had seen dozens of newborn barn cats in his time. 

Javi was standing beside Ashley at the stove, and he gently took the dripping spoon from her as she gestured, and stirred the pot. He was smiling to himself, and when he glanced over at Ashley in her kitten raptures, his smile got bigger. 

His smile got, Chucho thought, _fatherly._

  


  


  


“You know, that was a nice thing you did for Ginny’s friend in the winter,” Chucho said the next morning in the kitchen. 

Javi raised an eyebrow, probably wondering why Chucho was bringing up the subject at this late date. 

“Nice? Dad, that situation should never have been going on like that. For years. It’s outrageous that it took some big-name ex-DEA hotshot to get someone off their ass to finally see justice done. And even then it took six weeks.” 

“It was terrible, agreed. But I’ve been thinking that the big-name ex-DEA hotshot probably had to kiss a lot of butts he’d rather not have kissed to get the ball rolling.” 

Javi said nothing, just poured himself a second cup of coffee and took a swig. 

“Let me guess. You told them you’d take the job in San Antonio?” 

Javi sighed. “I promised to think about it. But I had already said I’d do that way back in the fall. And now the clock is ticking and they have leverage to pressure me.” He put the coffee mug down on the counter. “I don’t know. The position there isn’t so bad. It would be close to home—closer than Colombia anyway—and they’d reinstate all my benefits and years put in toward a pension.” 

Chucho nodded. He couldn’t help but think about what Ginny had told him several months ago—that she really needed an internship in an urban area before her degree would be viable in the job market…

“What do you think, Dad?” 

“I told you before, Javi—I’m glad to have you with me here. You have helped me a lot, and I’m grateful. But, Javi, there’s a fire in you to see justice done, to make wrong things right. I’m afraid it’s a fire that will burn you alive if you try to shove it down and pretend it’s not there.” 

Javi stood and looked at Chucho for what seemed like an eternity. Finally he said, “Dad, you’ve just told me more about myself in those ten seconds than that shrink has in six months.” 

“I don’t charge as much either,” Chucho said, taking a sip from his cup.

  


  


  



	19. Chapter 19

Friday it rained in the morning, and Chucho took that as a sign that he could take a few hours off to clean the house. Javi helped, scrubbing the bathroom and the kitchen floor. When the sun came out at lunchtime, Javi waved Chucho on to the barn to work, while he began to string up lights, lay the planks for the dance floor, and haul out bales of straw for those who forgot to bring their own chairs. He worked long past dark. Chucho hoped that Ashley was holding up her end of the deal by checking in with Wendy on the food, but he didn’t need to have worried. She called later in the evening to whisper hastily that everything was under control and Wendy and Tony were going to come over and set up while they were in Laredo for Ginny’s graduation. 

  


  


  


Saturday dawned, bright, sunny, and hot. Fortunately the graduation ceremony was inside the campus’s huge air-conditioned gym. They were going to need a lot of drinks at the party later…but Ashley had considered all that. 

Chucho ran into Ashley and Ginny in the hall outside the women’s restroom by the gym entrance, where Ginny was looking emotional in her dark blue cap and gown. 

He stopped in his tracks. “Ginny. Congratulations. I’m so proud of you. And you look so nice.” 

Tears, as well as black makeup, dribbled down Ginny’s cheeks. 

“Abuelo!” Ashley said in an exasperated voice. “Not to be a downer, but you’re looking with the eyes of your heart and they are not very practical. Mom”—Ashley put her hands on her hips—“where did you get that mascara?” 

“I don’t know, Ash—I couldn’t find it and I looked down behind the bureau against the wall and there it was. 

“Oh, Mom! It’s not the waterproof kind! This is beyond fixing.” She looked up and saw through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows that Javi was coming in from a smoke outside. “Quick! We’ll have to take it all off!” Ashley hissed as she hustled her mother back into the bathroom. 

A few minutes later, Ginny emerged, looking pretty much the same as she always did as far as Chucho could tell. 

“All ready?” Javi asked, smiling at her. He hadn’t buttoned his top shirt button again even though he was wearing a tie and suit. But he was a lot more dressed up than either Chucho or Ashley. 

“Ye-es,” Ginny said, “though I feel like my eyelashes are going to get arrested for public nudity.” 

“You look fine, Mom. You better go line up.” 

“You look great,” Javi agreed, giving Ginny a swift kiss before she turned to go. 

“Can I borrow ten bucks?” Ashley asked as soon as her mother disappeared around the corner. Immediately Javi opened his wallet and handed her two fives, no questions asked. If he became Ashley’s stepdad, Javi was going to spoil her _rotten._

“Save me a seat,” Ashley whispered, darting off. 

“I can’t keep up with all this,” Chucho complained. 

“Never mind, Dad. Let’s go find our seats.” 

The speaker had only begun when Ashley edged into their row, whispering apologies. Finally she sat down beside Chucho and revealed the tube of makeup in her fist. It said MEGA LENGTH WATERPROOF on the side. “College bookstore. They have _all_ the essentials.” 

Chucho did not know why this was so important but he smiled at Ashley anyway and turned his attention to the rows of caps in the front of the gym. He thought he’d picked out Ginny but he wasn’t sure. Her cap had some kind of writing on the top that it had been hard to see when she was standing with him in the hall. This was not the sort of thing kids did when Javi graduated, but times changed, of course. 

He could not have said afterward what the address was about, but he was good and ready when finally Ginny crossed the stage and shook the hand of the college president and received her diploma. 

“Virginia Charlotte Murillo Gutierrez, Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.” 

Chucho stood and stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled as loud as he could. Ashley did too, just like he’d taught her. Javi stood as well, though he just clapped, and smiled as big as Chucho had seen in a long while. 

They weren’t supposed to do this—everyone had been instructed to wait and clap at certain intervals because it sped the proceedings up—but Ginny had worked long and hard and she deserved some appreciation. A number of people looked at the hayseeds disapprovingly, but Ginny waved hugely, stuck her diploma under her arm, and gave them two thumbs-up from the stage before she went down the steps on the other side. 

After the tassel moving, cheering, and hat-throwing was over, Ginny joined them on the green outside and revealed the top of her mortarboard, which read “Love You” at the top and “Javi Ashley Chucho” in a half circle at the bottom. Actually it said “Don Chucho,” but the “Don” was written very small above his name and in silver glitter. She hugged them all, individually and in a group, and then they walked out to the main entrance of the campus and posed for roughly one hundred and fifty-seven pictures in front of the welcome sign. 

“I’m proud of Mom, but that was exhausting,” Ashley said as she joined Chucho in the shade while one of Ginny’s classmates took a picture of Ginny and Javi with their arms around each other. “And this day is only getting started.” 

Javi approached them, his arm around Ginny’s waist. Ginny was carrying her cap and gown and looked very young and happy in the floral summer dress she’d worn underneath, as though she was the same age as the others milling around the welcome sign with their cameras. “Hey, Pop,” Javi said, tossing Chucho the keys to the Jeep. “Can you drive Ashley home? I’m going to take Ginny out for lunch.” 

“Well, you’ll need this, Mom,” Ashley said, handing Ginny the mascara, and while Ginny’s attention was off him, Javi winked at Ashley. 

“See you two at the party,” Javi said. 

  


  


  


Chucho and Ashley stopped for a burger at a fast-food place along the highway and got to the ranch early in the afternoon. Cuddy came running to meet them as Chucho parked the Jeep in the shed. Wendy had everything under control in the kitchen, and Tony had set the smoker up to create a little private kingdom for the chef. The meat smelled delicious already. As they walked up, he was arranging a speaker system near Javi’s dance floor. “Gotta have line dancing,” he explained, and he and Ashley high-fived. 

Chucho finished setting up the tables for the food under one of the strings of lights, and then Ashley brought out the tablecloths and the decorations as well as the tiki torches on poles that they pounded into the ground, soft from all the recent rain. 

The only glitch seemed to be that Wendy had forgotten the avocadoes for the guacamole, but with salsa and queso and pico de gallo and who knew what all else, no one would miss it. So a little before the guests were to begin to arrive for the party (Ginny was supposed to arrive a half hour later), Chucho and Ashley took a lemonade break on the front porch rockers. 

Ashley was looking out at everything with satisfaction. “It’s going to be a great party, Abuelo.” 

“I think it will be. You had a great idea and you carried it through.” 

“With a lot of help,” she said, rubbing Cuddy’s belly when he flopped at her feet. 

“Knowing when to ask for help is an underrated skill,” Chucho said. 

Ashley smiled at him knowingly. “Javi is going to be OK, Abuelo. I told you he would.” 

“You’re a smart kid, _mija._ ” 

“Cuddy thinks so too, don’t you, boy? Don’t you? Who’s the smartest girl around, huh?” 

It was then that the first two cars came down the lane and parked by the shed. 

“Happy birthday, Chucho!” Ranza called as she and Chucho’s nieces trooped into the house, arms full of foil-covered dishes. Chucho’s nephews-by-marriage and their kids made a beeline for the dozen coolers and galvanized buckets full of ice and bottled drinks. “Does Ginny know yet?” 

“Still a secret!” Ashley called. “And we are going to have so much food if everyone ends up bringing something,” she added in an aside to Chucho. 

The tables were groaning from their burdens by the time the barnyard was full of cars. Tony was blaring the music, camp chairs and lawn chairs dotted the scrubby grass in front of the house, and everyone was waiting for a certain little hatchback to make its way down the lane. 

  


  


  


It was clear that even when Ginny got to the ranch, she still didn’t know the secret. But she looked happy and as excited as Chucho had ever seen her. 

As soon as they arrived, Javi shed his aviators, jacket, and tie and climbed up into the back of Tony’s pickup, parked in the center of things. He pulled Ginny up beside him. He waved his arms for everyone’s attention. 

“I’m sorry we’re a little late, everyone!” he called, rolling up his sleeves. Someone booed good-naturedly, even though they were only about five minutes late, and everyone laughed. 

Javi grinned. “We’d like to thank all of you for coming, and especially Tony and Wendy for helping our Ashley put all this together.” He held out his hand toward where Ashley was standing on the ground near Chucho, quivering with excitement. 

For the second time that day, Chucho put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Cheers broke out. 

“Some of us were told,” Javi went on, “that we’re here to celebrate the birthday of my pop.” Chucho waved from the midst of the crowd, and there was much clapping, and a couple of wolf whistles, from the crew of course. 

“His birthday is on Wednesday, but he’s stepping aside today so that you can join with us in celebrating the hard work and achievement of…Ginny Gutierrez, bachelor of science!” A roar went up. 

Ginny put her hands over her mouth, eyes wide. She turned to the partygoers. “Thank you! Thank you so much! I don’t know what to say!” More applauding. 

Javi waved his hand for quiet again. 

“But if you would indulge us, we’d also like you to join with us in celebrating Ginny Gutierrez, who has graciously agreed to become…Mrs. Javi Peña.” 

Among the cheers, Chucho heard someone screaming with excitement—probably Ranza, or maybe Wendy—as Javi pulled Ginny to him for a tender kiss. It was then that he noticed that a ring glittered on her left hand. 

Tears stung Chucho’s eyes. He recognized that look he saw now on Ginny’s face—he knew it. He used to see it on Linda’s face when she looked at him. 

Someone took his hand. Ashley looked up into his face. “Are you OK, Abuelo?” 

“I am more than OK,” he whispered, because his voice wasn’t working. 

They pushed their way through the guests to the pickup, where Javi was lifting Ginny down from the back. Chucho managed by a supreme act of the will not to weep openly as he encompassed both Ginny and Javi in a hug, with Ashley in there too. He kissed Ginny’s cheek (hers was wet too) while Javi hugged Ashley and whispered something in her ear, and then Ashley, naturally, kissed everyone. 

Javi and Ginny were mobbed with well-wishers then and Chucho and Ashley moved to the edge of the crowd. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you, Abuelo,” Ashley said quietly. “I really wanted to. When Javi showed me the kittens, he asked if it would be OK with me if he asked Mom to marry him. He didn’t really say if I could tell anyone, so…I thought I better not.” 

“That was the right thing to do, _mija._ If someone speaks to you in confidence, it’s better to err on the side of caution.” It was only what, six weeks ago? seven? that she had spilled the whole story of how her mom had asked her about marrying Javi. His _nieta_ was growing up. 

She took his hand again. “I thought you’d say that. But I didn’t know he was going to ask her today. I only _suspected._ That’s why I kind of freaked out about the mascara. I knew she’d want to look her best.” 

“These last few days must have been torture for you, _mija,_ keeping such a secret. It must have been like being put on the rack. Yet you didn’t breathe a word.” 

Ashley grinned as she remembered her words long ago. “Nope.” 

He nodded. “That’s steely determination. Turns out, you’ve been one of the Peñas all along, Ashley.” 

  


  


  


The party was a raging success. Someone had brought Ginny a dress-up tiara, and she wore it with glee. Later on when the dancing started, she put it on the front of her cowgirl hat. 

“Those are my boots and hat she’s wearing,” Ashley grumbled as she passed Chucho on the way to the makeshift dance floor, holding the hand of one of Chucho’s grandnieces on each side. “I left them in the back of the car!” She rolled her eyes at Chucho over her shoulder as the little girls tugged her on past. 

Even Javi looked like he was having fun line dancing, although he still didn’t really know what he was doing. It didn’t matter—Javi was laughing. 

Later Chucho noticed Ginny was in the middle of a knot of women while Javi was off surrounded by a group of men standing around by the coolers, Cuddy panting gently at his feet. “After our celebratory lunch, we walked to that garden just down the block. You know it, Doña Ranza?” Ginny was asking. “Yes, that’s the one, the park with a little waterfall.” While Ginny was talking, Wendy was holding Ginny’s hand up to the light and turning it this way and that so the ring sparkled at different angles. “There are rose bushes and flowers all around it, and a little bench in front so you can sit and look at it. That’s where he asked me.” 

Ginny saw Chucho and held out her free hand to him, so he joined the group of women. 

“Did he get down on one knee, Ginny?” he asked with a smile as she wrapped her arm around his for a brief hug. 

She giggled. “I’d have paid good money to see that. No. He didn’t bribe me with the ring either. He was just sitting with me on the bench and he asked me then. He didn’t whip out the ring till after I said yes.” 

“Just sitting with you on the bench?” Ranza asked archly. 

“Well, not _just_ sitting,” Ginny said, giggling some more. “Maybe there was some kissing. But definitely no kneeling.” 

“You’re leaving out important details, Ginny,” Nita complained. “What did he say?” 

A dreamy expression crossed Ginny’s face. “Well, there were some sweet nothings, of course, and then he said he loved me and I said I loved him. Then he kind of cupped my face in his hands and asked if I would let him love me for the rest of our lives, and would I marry him.” 

A collective happy sigh went up. 

“Then after I whispered ‘Yes, oh yes, Javi’ or something like that—I can’t remember exactly—in a really _eager_ way, we kissed some more, and he took out the ring from his pocket and put it on my finger. And then he picked me up and swung me around, and we just laughed like we were crazy—and I might have cried a little—because we were _so happy._ ” 

At that moment Ashley squeezed into the circle. “Oh, Mom, are you telling everyone how Javi proposed? What did I miss?” 

Ginny pulled Ashley into a hug. “Oh, Ash. You are going to get the entire play-by-play, over and over. You’ll be sick to death of hearing it.” 

“Well, probably not for a week or two,” Ashley said, returning the hug. “I’m glad you and Javi finally got this settled. I was afraid Abuelo and I were going to have to take a hand in it.” She looked over at Chucho, eyes twinkling. 

Chucho did his best to look as innocent as a lamb, but he didn’t think he succeeded, because all the women were having a pretty good laugh. 

  


  


  


After Tony had announced that the main course was ready and everyone had found a seat to eat, Manny came and sat down in the empty chair beside Chucho. “I’m so happy for you and Javi, Chucho. What a special birthday present. This is a good thing for all of you.” 

“Thank you, Manny.” 

“How Linda would have loved this. She doted on Ginny anyway, and now to have her in the family…”

“I was just thinking about her.” 

Manny smiled gently. “I know you were.” 

They shared a companionable moment of silence and Chucho said, “I hope you’ll tell Bonnie we missed her and wished she could be here too.” 

“I sure will. I’ll tell her all about this. I plan to take in all the details and commit them to memory.” 

And that was a wonderful idea, Chucho thought later as he looked around. He wanted to remember this night. 

Not only had people brought food without being asked, but there were a number of fiddles and guitars breaking out, not to mention a banjo and a couple of mandolins. A jam session started behind the smoker, and pretty soon the speakers were turned off and live music took over. At this rate, they all might be square dancing by the time the night was over. 

The twinkling lights, the music, the food, the dancing, the laughter, the friends and family…and were those fireflies he saw? He wouldn’t be surprised. It was that kind of night. A night after the drought was over. 

The musicians were playing a slow tune, and he saw that in the center of the dance floor, Ginny and Javi were slow dancing, Ginny with her head tucked into the crook of Javi’s neck, eyes closed, and Javi with his cheek against her hair. 

The healing had begun for Javi at long last. 

As all around them the people they loved celebrated, Chucho could see Ashley making her way toward him through the crowd, her hat (minus the tiara) reclaimed… Of everyone here, he knew she understood most his immense contentment with today’s turn of events. 

Chucho closed his eyes and gave thanks for how the long road seemed to be ending. Or rather, for the beautiful turn it had taken as it ran on into the future. 

He didn’t know which path his son would choose in his career, but Javi had already taken the most important fork in the road.

  


  


  



	20. Epilogue

Watching Javi fidget around the room in his wedding tuxedo, shooting his cuffs and pulling at his tie, was enough to make Chucho very grateful Ginny was letting Chucho get away with wearing just his best suit and hat and the bolero tie that had been his father’s. Steve, also in a tux, sat slouched back in a chair, legs stretched in front of him, looking up at the ceiling fan. They were both jonesing for a cigarette, Chucho could tell, but smoking wasn’t allowed in the church. He suspected it was only his presence that was keeping them from lighting up, rule or no rule. 

A tap sounded at the door and Chucho hurried to answer it. Javi’s jitters were contagious and he was ready for an excuse to get out of that room. 

Ashley was at the door, and Chucho slipped out into the hall. 

“How is Javi holding up?” Ashley whispered. 

“He’s nervous. How about your mom?” 

“Nervous. But just so you know, I helped do her makeup. One hundred percent waterproof guaranteed. No emergencies will occur.” 

“That’s a relief,” Chucho said. Though he doubted anything could mar Ginny’s beauty today, of all days. Not that he’d even had so much as a glimpse of her yet. 

The violin and cello prelude began in the sanctuary. Ashley turned to Chucho, wide-eyed. “That’s the fifteen-minute warning. I better get back to Mom.” 

“OK, _mija._ See you at the top.” 

Ashley giggled and turned to scurry back to the room where the bride waited. Chucho hoped she remembered to put her shoes on before the ceremony. 

Just then Connie came down the hall, looking harassed. She was holding the baby, who was starting to fuss, in one arm, over which a huge bag was slung, and holding Olivia’s hand with the other. 

“Oh, Don Chucho,” she gasped, “could you help? I could _not_ get Stevie to nap, and now I’m late trying to wrestle Olivia into her flower girl dress…”

“Of course. Would you like me to take the baby? Maybe he’d like to walk a little.” 

“Yes. Thank you.” Connie hastily handed over the baby and hustled Olivia back to the designated dressing rooms. 

The baby did not like the look of Chucho at all, until Chucho put his hat on him. He blinked a couple of times, unsure whether he wanted to cry over it, then gave Chucho a big grin, showing off his two baby teeth. At just over six months old, his little arms still weren’t very coordinated, but peekaboo didn’t need much of that. They walked the length of the hall, back and forth, until his head rested against Chucho’s shoulder and then got heavier and heavier. Chucho gently retrieved his hat and stood waiting for the signal that all the guests were seated and it was time for Ginny and the girls to take their place with him at the back of the church. 

Connie came hurrying out again, looking just as harassed as before. “OK, she’s dressed. Oh, you got him to sleep! Thank you, Don Chucho! I’ll take him—I hope he won’t wake—oh, they’re giving me the high sign that I need to go sit in the pew. Can you watch Olivia until she has to walk? Here’s her basket—don’t let her throw the petals until she gets to the aisle—” And Connie was gone, toting baby and bag. 

Chucho and Olivia looked at each other. Her lip quivered, and Chucho put his hat on her head too. She giggled and ran to the mirror down the hall to preen. He hoped he hadn’t committed some kind of wedding faux pas because the hat wasn’t going to do the wreath of flowers in her hair any favors…and then he started wondering if he was going to get his hat back at all. In the end he had to trade the basket for it, but fortunately it seemed like a reasonable transaction to Olivia. 

The guests had all been herded into the sanctuary and the doors at the back closed. Ashley came down the hall and immediately took charge of Olivia. Now that she was thirteen, she had sudden moments of grown-upness that startled him. 

And behind Ashley came Ginny. 

“Ginny,” Chucho said. He could hardly find words. “You look…”

“She’s glowing, isn’t she, Abuelo?” Ashley said, beaming. “See, I told you, Mom.” 

Ginny kissed the top of Ashley’s head, though she had to stand on tiptoe to do it these days. “Didn’t I raise this kid right, Don Chucho?” 

Ashley rolled her eyes but Chucho could tell she was pleased. Holding Olivia’s hand, Ashley positioned her to start the procession and began to whisper a pep talk. 

Chucho was still moved at the sight of Ginny in her wedding dress, which was a pale silvery-blue with a wispy, floaty kind of skirt. “I hope…,” he began, then faltered. “I hope Javi knows the treasure he’s getting, Ginny Gutierrez.” 

“Is he getting a treasure? He’s getting a jumble of quivering jelly, is what he’s getting. When I married Jorge, we just stood in front of the JP. I never knew why in church weddings the girl has to go down the aisle with her dad. But now I see it’s because she needs somebody steady and wonderful to hold her hand because she is a _mess_.” 

Chucho took her hand. “You will be fine. You do look radiant, Ginny. As beautiful as I’ve ever seen you. It’s as if everything beautiful inside is showing on the outside too. I could not have asked for a better bride for my Javi.” 

She squeezed his hand and pressed her lips together, hard. “Not crying not crying not crying not crying. All right, Don Chucho, stop being so sweet. I need my face to look cool and serene, not like I just got into a brawl with a swarm of hornets.” 

Chucho chuckled. He had been about to remind her that it was high time she started calling him Pop and not Don Chucho anymore, but there would be plenty of time for that. He put her hand on his arm just where he’d been instructed to at rehearsal. “Deep breath,” he said. 

They both took one, and the doors to the flower-decked sanctuary were opened, the processional began, and Olivia marched down the aisle with determination, throwing rose petals as if they were grenades. Next, Ashley--shoes on, smile on, bouquet held just so. 

Then the first notes of the bridal march sounded, and everyone stood and turned and strained to get a glimpse of Ginny. 

Chucho patted Ginny’s hand, and they started down the aisle to where Javi stood waiting. 

His son looked stunned, and something else. Something Chucho hadn’t seen on Javi’s face since he was just a boy. Something it took Chucho the whole way down the aisle, even after his successful cataract surgery this past summer, to identify. 

Could it be? 

Yes. His son was not just happy. On Javi’s face was _joy._

  


  


  


Chucho and Ginny had reached the front of the sanctuary where the rest of the wedding party waited with Javi, spread out in front of the altar. In the rehearsal, Chucho had been instructed that at this point he should take Ginny’s hand and put it into Javi’s. 

But this time he stopped, and gently kissed her forehead. He was so overwhelmed and proud that she would become his daughter in truth. 

Tears filled her eyes, and without much concern for her elegant bouquet or even her dignity, she threw her arms around him and hugged him as tight as she could. 

The guests in the pews behind them, all their family and friends and half the town, plus some steely-eyed individuals in suits who must be DEA, chuckled and murmured softly, and then Chucho took her hand and put it in Javi’s. 

He gripped Javi’s forearm and held his son’s eyes, trying to let him know everything in his heart. 

That he loved him. 

That this was no light thing he did in entrusting Ginny’s happiness to him. 

That the joy he saw in Javi’s face made everything that had happened this past year worth it. 

Javi’s eyes searched Chucho’s face and he gave him a small solemn nod back. Perhaps Javi understood it all, perhaps only part. But the distance between them was gone, Chucho hoped forever. 

Chucho made his way back to the front pew, where he sat and focused on his son. Images from the past came to mind and faded again…the little boy with the curly hair and the big heart, and the sullen stranger who came home from Colombia the first time… Javi’s dark lashes against his chubby cheeks when Chucho would tiptoe into his room when he came in from the fields to kiss him good night in his crib… The restless teenager who was always looking toward the horizon… Linda’s despair after the breakup with Lorraine, that he would never find another nice girl like her and settle down…

Javi looked good in the tux—of course he did—but Chucho noticed a sheen of sweat on his forehead. The church was cool, so Javi was either still nervous or taking everything to heart…hopefully at least the latter. Chucho had seen his share of fainting bridegrooms, and though he didn’t think Javi would be among their number, he was glad Javi had Steve at his back. 

Ashley, the “junior bridesmaid,” as she called it, was looking so teenagerish in her long dress and heeled strappy sandals, with her hair up in some kind of fancy do, with little ringlets dangling around her face. She was holding hands with Olivia, who was supposed to have gone to sit with Connie in the pew behind Chucho for the rest of the ceremony, but who had decided instead to stay up front where the action was. He’d heard Connie, while trying to wrangle the baby, whispering at her to come, but Olivia had simply ignored her, hooked the basket formerly containing rose petals on her arm, and started sucking the thumb of her free hand. Nobody would mind. She was still at the age where whatever she did was cute. 

“Dearly beloved,” began the ceremony, and it took Chucho straight back to his own wedding, standing in front of the church in an extremely uncomfortable suit, his palms damp with nerves. He remembered the awe of seeing Linda in her white dress and veil on the arm of her father, the eternity of their walk down the aisle toward him, being dazed and humbled that this beautiful woman was going to come home with him that night, and stay with him every night after. 

Grief welled up that she was not here to share this with him. How pleased she’d have been to see these two here like this, especially after all her worry over Javi, and all her mothering of Ginny. Then he chuckled to himself. She would no doubt have taken all the credit for the match too. 

The drought was over. His prayers had been answered. The son he loved and the girl he loved like a daughter were finally pledging their lives to each other. Ashley would become his granddaughter officially, and-- 

At that moment Olivia made a break for the pews, but instead of going to her mother, she tossed her basket onto the seat beside Chucho and climbed into his lap. Though his arms automatically went around her, he was surprised. He had held her once or twice during the Murphys’ original visit, but he didn’t think she’d remember that. Maybe the few minutes of wearing his hat in the hall had done the trick. She looked up at him and smiled, stuck her thumb in her mouth, laid her head on his chest with a huge sigh, and closed her eyes. 

Chucho watched Javi and Ginny gazing into each other’s eyes in wonder, and it hit him—he didn’t know why it hadn’t crossed his mind before, but he’d been so busy trying to pray Javi better and keep those two together—

_Sometime soon, there might be more grandchildren than just Ashley, like this little one in his lap._

The thought took him aback a bit. 

He would not pray for that, no…not until he knew what Ginny and Javi wanted. But could he let himself secretly start hoping? 

He looked over at Ashley, and she looked back. He could tell by the way her dimples popped out that she had read his mind exactly—as she often did. Slowly she closed one eye. 

His heart full, Chucho winked back. 

  


  


  


  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this, please leave me a comment to let me know. Were the sweat and tears worth it?? 😉 
> 
> In the spirit of (U.S.) Thanksgiving, thank you to all those who already left comments and kudos, and most of all, thanks for reading!


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